Yami No Matsuei The Hogwarts Chronicles
by Cerridwen Aerin Ellorin
Summary: Yami No Matsuei with a Harry Potter twist. ATTACK OF THE CHIBI SHIKIGAMI! And a whole lot more. RR PLEASE!
1. The Light and the Darkness

Cerridwen: HI EVERYBODY~~~!!!

Asato Tsuzuki: -' '-

Hisoka Kurosaki: ???

Yutaka Watari: oo

Seiichiro Tatsumi: What in Enma Daioh-sama's NAME are you doing HERE?!

Cerridwen: Just decided to give you guys a visit, I've been having YnM highs lately.

Asato: Errh...so, you've...

Cerridwen: ^~^ I just can't get ***THAT*** shower scene out of my MIND.

Asato: -' '- Eh?

Hisoka: ~_~** Times like this I am glad my partner's so BA-KA and so DENSE.

Cerridwen: *^~^*

Tatsumi: O...K...

Guu-chan: Guuu....

Cerridwen: Hi, Guu-chan! What, was Takao chasing you around again?

Guu-chan: Guu.

Watari: Oh...YEAH! Hey, weren't you supposed to be over at Takao's for dinner?

Cerridwen: ^~^ Yeah, well, Takao was pestering me to open my _o-fuda_ infested refrigerator, but then again,

I made as dash for it as soon as Chibi Kyo started making some ruckus up front involving 

Medain and Dragoon.

Watari: Uh...OK...

Cerridwen: ^~^

Tatsumi: ^^;;

Hisoka: Hey Cerridwen...

Cerridwen: OO! Oh, I almost forgot. I'm here for another reason aside from the SHOWER scene.

Watari: R-really...

Cerridwen: ^~^ YEAH! 

Asato: -' '-

Cerridwen: Guu-chan, the honors, please!

Guu-chan: GUU~~~!!!

***There was a brilliant flash of light, and then~~~***

Hisoka: OO? What's THAT?

Cerridwen: This, my dear Kurosaki-kun, is the reason for my YnM highs. 

Guu-chan: GUU~~~!!!

Cerridwen: Hope you all have a GRAND time!

***Throws Dango-kun at the unsuspecting Shinigami***

***There was another brilliant flash of light***

Asato: WAAAAHHH~~~!!!

Hisoka: .

Watari: @.@

Tatsumi: 00

***Door opens***

Wakaba Kannuki: What's happening...

Hajime Terazuma: What the hell's all that noise?!

Kazutaka Muraki: Alas I am free to molest Tsuzuki-san AGAIN~~~!!!

Mibu Oriya: OO;; Uh...

***The brilliant light turns to dancing disco lights***

Everybody (except Cerridwen and Guu-chan): EEEEYYYYAAAAAAHHHH~~~!!!

***The lights abate***

Cerridwen: ^~^ Ain't I BRILLIANT?!

Guu-chan: Guuuuu...

***Dango-kun transforms the YnM cast into 10 year-olds***

Asato: ***voice sounds kawaii*** This...THIS...

Watari: XO This is EVIL~~~!!!

Wakaba: Why is my hair cropped so SHORT?!

Tatsumi: That's NOT the point...OUR CLOTHES DON'T FIT US ANYMORE~~~!!!

Cerridwen: ***grabs Dango-kun*** Hehehehehehehe...see you.

***There was another brilliant flash of light***

Everybody (except for Cerridwen, Guu-chan, and Dango-kun): EEEEEEYYYYYAAAAAHHHH~~~!!!

The Light and the Darkness

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: This is my first YnM fic, so please be gentle with me! For some enlightenment about Guu-chan and Dango-kun's powers, please refer to my bio and my Bey Blade fic, "Fushigi Yuugi, Bey Blade Style!". This is dedicated to all Harry Potter and YnM fans out there who's wondering what would happen if 2 such worlds collide in an EVIL, INSANE fic. ENJOY~~~!!!

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Yami No Matsuei and Harry Potter; they belong to Youko Matsushita-sensei and J.K. Rowling, respectively. I do own the OC's in this fic, though. Yeah, the Harry Potter premise has been stretched and modified several times in other fanfics I've seen around, and I would absolutely promise that this is not a frigging clone. BTW, this takes place several years into the future (no idea how the Harry Potter books would end up, am currently waiting for the Order of the Phoenix; the events happening here are just the products of my insane invention, so don't SUE ME!), wherein the HP cast have all grown up and have families of their own, and leaves our YnM heroes in a pretty big lurch right in the middle of it. Voldemort has been taken care of (or WASN'T he?!?), and another threat blows in from the horizon. What could the YnM cast do in the face of this new danger? R/R PLEASE! ^.^

Asato Tsuzuki couldn't have asked for a more perfect life.

Here he was, minding his own business pruning and taking care of the huge vegetable garden patch his uncle and his aunt had out there in the many neat fields outside Kyoto, when the bill collector came and handed him a sheaf of documents that was numerous enough to build small hills in front of their house several times over. That means another 5 hours of intense labor before bedtime, and a dinner of cold leftover fish and burnt rice for his stomach now grumbling in hunger, if Asato delivers them straight to his uncle right away; but if he decides to wait until he finishes turning the ground over for the new _daikon_ his aunt had just ordered him to plant that day before he left for the fields that early morning (and from the looks of it, he would work well into dinner time), it would mean that he would get up 2 hours earlier and work the fields the whole day without nourishment of any sort tomorrow. Asato could even barely lift the hoe for a few inches on his poor diet, let alone go through the whole day without any food to eat. 

But...

"Thanks mister, I'll take these to Uncle Shu'un right away," Asato told the bill collector.

"Yes, thanks, son," the bill collector replied, getting on his little motorbike.

The bill collector left. Asato watched until the bill collector was just a speck in the distance then returned his attention back to the bills he held in his hands.

He sighed.

Well, he's going to risk it.

The large house built at the end of the nice little road leading straight to the highway was as quiet and as lovely as always, as it was nearing the end of summer. Dragonflies flew lazily past, and alighted on the green blades of grass, as the 10 year old boy got down from his oversized bike and, holding his bike handles steadily with his shaking hands (of thirst and hunger), Asato wheeled the bike right over to the huge wooden gates then knocked urgently on its huge bronze knocker.

A little hatch opened up at the top, and a pair of small beady eyes looked out. "Yes?"

"I have something for Uncle Shu'un," Asato began, "concerning those bills he had been waiting for the past few days~~~"

"What are you doing HERE, BOY?! Didn't they tell you to ONLY RETURN by SUNSET?"

"Errh...well..." Asato got the bills in his bike's rusty, beat up basket then waved it in front of the hatch. "I had to bring this straight away for my uncle..."

"Silly boy, you're going to get such a telling off from your uncle once he learns of this," the voice behind the hatch gruffly snapped. 

"I'll return to the fields, as soon as I give these to him," Asato told his still unseen talker (^^;;). "I still have 6 rows to do."

"6 rows, they'll take off your wages for that, you dunderhead~~~"

There was an impatient honk from behind, and Asato almost jumped out of his skin, and heard nothing until a shrill voice was heard throughout the still sweltering stillness.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY~~~!!!" Fuuko Mishima yells as soon as the windows rolled down. "What are you, STUPID?!"

"E-errh..." Asato stammered.

"Well get out of the way, you **BA-KA**~~~!!!" I haven't got ALL afternoon!"

Asato almost tripped as he hurriedly got his bike out of the way, his aunt still looking at him venomously from the rolled-down tinted window of her car.

She stopped right beside Asato

"What, exactly, are you doing HERE?!" Aunt Fuuko screeched. "It's not yet SUNSET~~~!!!"

"I...I..." Asato then hurriedly gave her all the bills, and dropped some of them on the small puddle of water in his haste. "Errh..."

"Stupid BOY!" Aunt Fuuko got the bills roughly then stared down at it. From somewhere beside his aunt, he could hear the distinct chuckle of his cousin, and from the looks of it, he was not alone.

Asato got the bills from the puddle at his feet and then gave them to his aunt, who was still seething.

"Did you use the heater AGAIN?" Aunt Fuuko asked him coldly.

"Y-yes, it got...pretty cold last n-n-night," Asato replied, looking down at his scuffed-up sneakers. "I...I turned it off right away before I l-l-left for the fields."

"How could it be cold, it's still SUMMER!" Aunt Fuuko told him shrilly. She jabbed the electricity bill at him. "LOOK! Our electric bill's way off the ROOF~~~!!!"

Asato decided not to answer; apparently, if he tried to talk his aunt would probably ask him to pay THEIR electric bills with his wages. Which, he could do, in probably 25 years. 

"The next time I catch you using that heater again, you'll sleep in the old quarters by the stables," Aunt Fuuko told him as she glared at him. "And no buts about IT~~~!!!"

With that, the tinted window rolled shut, and the huge wooden gates were opened to the huge lovely _samurai_ villa and the car drove right in. Aunt Fuuko made sure she went off with a roar that splashed some of the muddy water right onto Asato's old worn jeans and dirty white shirt riddled with holes out back, which he covered with a small red jacket that had seen better days.

The security guard, who was that one with those beady eyes and gruff, curt voice, grinned at him evilly.

"5,000 yen if they shut you out into the stables again," he said with a loud chuckle.

"..." Asato got on his bike then wheeled himself off.

Besides, he still had 6 rows to attend to.

It was always like that in the Mishima household. 

Although, nobody who KNEW the Mishimas could probably say something ill about them.

They were a prosperous, well-to-do family. Old strict and gruff Uncle Shu'un, shrill and trigger-happy (with housework, anyway) Aunt Fuuko, and his terrible and very evil cousin Kou'un. His uncle owned a very large supermarket and 3 convenience stores in Tokyo, and he was really glad to point it out, to whoever was listening into his long and winding speech (with that great booming voice of his, it's hard not to miss), that every vegetable sold in the vegetables section were grown by HIM in his 3 or so acres of land back in Kyoto. Of course, he conveniently left out Asato, who did all the hoeing, planting, pruning, and harvesting all by himself. Uncle Shu'un wouldn't want anyone to think that he wasn't doing any work at all.

Aunt Fuuko was always very shrill and very irritable and very trigger-happy in handing out Asato housework at the pace of about 5 chores in 30 seconds. Her voice would make you instantly think of mice being trod upon by a car hurtling 120 miles per hour down a downhill road. Even how much Asato tried to curb his internal ear bleeding with 10 foot thick earplugs, there really was no stopping Aunt Fuuko's voice. Her voice would particularly turn very shrill when Asato sends her the bills (worse) or finds out that Asato had failed to do 4.5 chores in 30 seconds (worst). And that was not yet counting the times she had shrieked herself hoarse every morning just to get her "lazy" nephew do the routine housework before he goes out into the fields (the very WORST). 

Kou'un was lazy, slow, and a particularly VERY NASTY war freak. He was also a delinquent; but every time Saikyoujin Grade School (the very private and chi-chi school in Tokyo, which Uncle Tetsuya would gladly tell anyone that it costs him a hefty 6 digit figure just to get his son all throughout a school year) sends his report card at the end of every term, Aunt Fuuko would always tell her tea fellows at her weekly _chanoyu_ sessions that Kouya was a "brilliantly gifted child who was always misunderstood by his teachers" and that his delinquency was nothing but "balderdash". He never get yelled at for his poor marks; whereas Aunt Fuuko always yelled at Asato for getting good marks at the public grade school he went to. She's making it sound that it was Asato's good marks that were sole reasons for her son's own dismal ones; Asato had a really hard time trying to string the 2 explanations together but eventually gave up (the link was UNUSUALLY weird, but nobody would dare question its weirdness to Aunt Fuuko, unless you have an early death wish with her brilliant supersonic screeching). Kou'un was the ring leader of a gang at his school who were delinquents like himself, and liked to hit Asato whenever his parents weren't looking (or looking; but they don't stop their son whenever he does this) and get him kicked around a lot. Apparently, hitting Asato took a little toll on his brain capacity than reading his schoolbooks, and, as Uncle Shu'un proudly proclaimed, Kou'un was getting his much needed brain exercise for another year of (cracked teeth, broken arms and bleeding noses in store for his unfortunate schoolmates) schooling. Which was VERY bad for Asato's case.

If having spawns of hell for relatives weren't bad enough, there was a batch of other people in the estate who hated him as much as his Uncle Shu'un, Aunt Fuuko, and cousin Kou'un abhorred him.

There was that beady-eyed security guard who always bet that Asato would be dead by the time of the next schoolyear (which he always lost at; he tries finding ways of torturing Asato just to win it). Then the cranky old man living in the stables who whacked him every single time Asato goes there to serve his latest punishment (the old man's eyesight was very poor and always thought that Asato was a burglar). Then the cook who always sneered at him whenever he eats his poor food, as if always expecting him to say something ill, so that she could tell on him to his family. Then the most evil thing that always happened to him after a harsh, grueling day of shrieking and hitting and sneering, was the time when Asato goes to bed and felt the misery and loneliness that was bearing down his poor, gentle soul, and it was becoming very hard to bear every single year that went through his miserable life. 

He always felt so different from them, and for this inexplicable difference, his uncle, aunt, and cousin all hated him. As with his schoolmates, Asato was never really popular, and just like Kou'un and his merry band of delinquents, his other schoolmates laughed and jeered at him and had one favorite sport: The Running of Tsuzuki (akin to the festival of the Running of the Bulls in Spain). They would throw rocks at him and chased him and bet how many times they would throw rocks at him until he cried. It was just something about him that people hated his existence; and Asato, who had always been shunned by people he expected to be close to, even by strangers he was so desperate to be close to, couldn't fathom why they liked seeing him so miserable.

He so longed to feel the hug of a mother, but it was this instance that led him to his miserable life with the Mishimas and the people who were happy to hate him for only living.

Asato never knew any parents, for as Aunt Fuuko shrilly told him that one time he asked about them, they abandoned him in their care. She then proceeded to go on that shrilly monologue on the treachery and the crime Asato's parents committed the night he was conceived, and happily prattled on until the night, until Asato couldn't hear out of his right ear from her supersonic screeching. Since then he had given up on the hope that they were alive and worried about him; apparently, they also abhorred him enough as to send him to live with his horrid relatives. Still, Asato was waiting for a chance, or hear anything, about the whereabouts of his parents; he would rather live with their harshness than with his evil relatives. 

And when Asato went to sleep on his cold stone floor of the storage room of the house later that night (hungry again as for the lack of food), he dreamt of his faceless parents while the security guard argued with the cook, the old man beating the old wooden post that had suddenly come up at him while he was closing the stables for the night to death, and his aunt and uncle settled to a graceful, elegant dinner they had hosted for the Supermarket Owners Association of Tokyo, with Kou'un happily prancing after the remote control car one of the children their other guests had with them owned (and by now was crying hysterically in the arms of his nursemaid). They didn't know anything of the other boy who lived there, whose stomach twisted painfully from severe and gnawing hunger, as he slept fitfully on the cold stone floor and his small body aching everywhere, counting the hours in which he was to rise again to another miserable day. 

It was the same cycle, again and again, going round and round like a circle that never ends. As the summer vacation drew to a close that had Asato happily looking forward to it (he had less chores and at least he's out of his aunt's supersonic screeching's way the whole day), a small incident happened, and it was very unexpected. 

That afternoon when Asato was out doing some shopping for new school supplies (by means of his wages) in Tokyo, he managed to bump into a man who was obviously going someplace, for he was such in a great hurry. 

"S-sorry," Asato stammered, as he bowed down low again and again, fearing the stranger's anger. "I...I didn't see you c-c-coming..." 

"It's alright. Nothing to it." 

Asato blinked, then looked up at the stranger he bumped into, surprised that a stranger had not yelled at him for being such a klutz, for once. The stranger was dressed in a silky looking cloak that shimmered in the lights that glared at him overhead, a beautiful shade of silver; it had strange straps that flitted about his shoulders as he moved. Underneath the cloak (which he had draped loosely about his shoulders), he wore a dark gray suit, the kind Asato saw on magazines his Aunt Fuuko liked to collect (mostly fashion and movie magazines; the ones foreigners were so fond of wearing), from which a silver chain was attached to his pocket. He was holding a book in his right hand, and held a slender leather bag on his left (the kind Japanese highschool students take to school). 

The stranger smiled at him, and Asato blinked again. He wasn't really angry at him...? 

"My name is Grein Silverbough. How do you do?" 


	2. Close Encounters of the Hidden Kind oO

Close Encounters of the Hidden Kind (o.O;;)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: YAY for chapter TWO~~~!!! ^~^ Asato meets Grein Silverbough, who was strange (he was a Westerner who could speak Japanese very fluently) and stranger (he talked of things that were called "Muggles"; must be some sort of code) . He is then given a bit of parchment that he was only to open on his 10th birthday. Asato never really thought much about it until his birthday came and Konoe-kachou comes for a VISIT! Of course his relatives were no more less than totally shocked. Then it's off to a school called the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. R/R please! ^.^

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yami No Matsuei nor Harry Potter; they belong to each of their respective authors; but I DO own the OC's portrayed herein. So NO SUING~~~!!! 

In all his 9 miserable years of existence, Asato had never been treated to a sundae cone.

A triple chocolate and strawberry decker sundae cone generously sprinkled with nuts.

Nor a large Vanilla Coke.

By a stranger, nonetheless.

WHAT WAS THE WORLD COMING TO~~~?!

Asato could only stare at the stranger as he talked amiably with the Ice Cream Planet scooper and was handed a Triple Choco-Strawberry Nut Decker and a large cup of Vanilla Coke a little while later.

The small boy was just staring at them open-mouthed until Grein Silverbough smiled at him warmly and nodded. "Go on. It's yours. You look ready to fall off your feet out of thirst and hunger any minute now."

"R-really? This...these are...MINE?!" Asato asked incredulously.

"Yes, 100% sure."

"O-oh, but I really have to pay you for it~~~" 

"No, no, no, you don't need to! Besides, I know how much you like Muggle sweets," Grein told him, still smiling. "So it's OK."

"R-really?!? THANKS~~~!!!" SD Asato said happily, looking at his sundae cone and his Vanilla Coke as if it were his idea of a Holy Grail. He decided to let that strange word, "Muggle", slide. Maybe he was just so hungry that was why he was hearing things.

They took their seats on one of the parasol-toting seats of the mall's walkway ice cream and sweets bar, and Asato began devouring his ice cream cone. He was halfway finished with it when he remembered that he was with a total stranger. So he blinked then looked at Grein, who was reading a newspaper in front of him while sipping a cup of iced cream coffee.

"Uh..." Asato thought for a moment, then looked straight at the strange man. "Um...Silverbough-san..."

"Yes?"

"How...errh...you...I mean...this is the first time we've...met..." Asato gulped. "How come...you're so...good to me...?"

"..."

"Oh! SORRY if I offended you...I MEAN~~~"

"No, don't apologize, you don't need to."

"Then...why...?"

"Let's just say...you remind me of someone a long, long time ago. When I see you, I see him." Grein nodded. "You were so much like him. He liked Muggle sweets, too. Very much. He came close to making Honeydukes bankrupt, he raids the sweet shop more than all owls living in England put together."

"England...?" Asato blinked. "So you're...English?"

"That's right."

"How come you speak Japanese very fluently?"

"Let's just say I've been assigned to this part of the world more than half my entire lifetime already, and I've breathed and lived its many traditions and its culture so much that I may have already become more Japanese than English." 

"I see." Asato blinked again. "Um...Silverbough-san...what are Muggles?"

"Tell you what, Asato Tsuzuki. I'll tell you more of Muggles if you promise to keep this sealed until your birthday next week. And if you want, we may talk of other 'things'. Other 'hidden things'." Grein stood up, got his newspaper (Asato could see the banner proclaiming it as the _Mahou Akamaru Shimbun_) and his things and cloak, then gave him an affectionate ruffle of his hair. "I would be seeing you soon."

He glanced at the small piece of parchment that seemed to be sealed with some sort of wax seal Grein left on the table.

It was only when Asato finished his softdrink and sundae cone that he realized that he didn't even introduce himself to Grein just yet.

Asato decided that it was a totally weird encounter.

How could he have known his name...and his birthday next WEEK?!

Was he some sort of secret spy Uncle Shu'un had sent after him in case he spent more than what his 3,000 yen budget could ALLOW?

***_**STUPID BOY~~~!!!**_*** Asato could imagine hearing him screaming inside his head in case he asked. ***_Why would I even spend THAT much on you, you're nothing but an extra space-taker who COMPLAINS when I put too many burdens upon his BACK. Why, you OUGHT to be ashamed of YOURSELF~~~!!! Imagine all the horrors I've been through just to take care of you through all those YEARS~~~!!!_***

***_You think you're special enough to be sent a SPY?!_*** his Aunt Fuuko would screech next. ***_I know enough to learn not to trust YOU when we have our backs TURNED...filching off what he could filch to get through his SCHOOLING! I say Shu'un, you must REALLY think twice in what to give that BOY for his SALARY...he might be embezzling funds from your supermarket earnings the second you just BLINK~~~!!!_***

His cousin Kou'un would then just drop to the floor and laugh until he asphyxiates to death. 

Asato just contented himself with counting the days until the start of his schoolyear (he was to be admitted into 4th grade by then), thinking it very wise not to ask his Uncle Shu'un anything about it. He was mending what he could salvage from the ratty textbooks his Aunt Fuuko had sniffily lent him (as if it just totally pains her to part with them and then screech and complain loudly that Asato should start living off the charity of some other relative; shame and horrendous he was to be a burden on them, his very hardworking ONLY relatives) which looked as though they ought to be put into the Museum of 15th Century Textbooks (Asato wasn't really sure if textbooks existed by then) by the stables when he heard his aunt screech from about 8 miles off.

"**A-SA-TOOOO~~~~!!!**"

Asato put his books down, which flapped and fell uselessly down on the floor he just swept clean in case the old man starts bashing him around the head again, then stood up to face his aunt. Of all the times he's seen his aunt very angry, this was the very WORST. Her eyes were no more than littlest slits, and her face was a marvelous kaleidoscope of color, from peach to red to purple then back and back again. She was also trembling, her fists clenching and unclenching, her mouth pursed into a very, very thin line.

"Yes, Aunt Fuuko?"

"**IN THE HOUSE~~~!!! BY THE ENTRY HALL~~~!!! NOW~~~!!!**"

"B-but I just finished polishing the hall for the 567th time already~~~"

"**JUST OBEY ME AND NO BUTS ABOUT IT~~~!!! QUICK~~~!!!**" Aunt Fuuko screeched, and Asato was now very sure that it had reached Hokkaido faster than the speed of light.

"Y-yes, Aunt Fuuko~~~!!!" 

She stomps off. Asato, wondering what could've made his aunt very angry like that, put down all his stuff and hurried after his aunt as fast as his legs could carry him. He dashed right into the huge house, way past several halls gleaming with toothbrushed fineness of hours and hours of wax and polishing (courtesy of Asato), then by the time he reached the entry hall, he was very out of breath. He leaned over to catch his breath for a full minute, holding his hands on his knees as he wheezed, then looked up. Uncle Shu'un, Aunt Fuuko, and Kou'un were all glaring at him with undisguised hatred.

"U-uh..."

"Asato Tsuzuki?! By the GODS it is YOU~~~!!!"

Asato blinked. A middle-aged man was right outside, smiling at him in a grandfatherly manner, his eyes closed happily. Well, he looked quite normal, except that he was wearing clothes of some faraway mountain temple in flowing white and deep blue (his _kosode_ tunic in white and his _hakama _in deep blue), holding a ceremonial wand festooned with paper wards, a tall hat on top of his head, 2 rectangular paper wards upon his shoulders along with a double-stranded necklace of amber beads and bright blue feathers about his neck, and a garland of leaves about his hat. He had white _tabi_ and _zori_ on his feet.

And there were others similar like him, forming a straight line on either side of the middle-aged man right outside their very house, holding banners and mini palanquins with his name written on it in flowing _kanji_. There was even a band playing traditional Japanese instruments, that were normally only seen in the Japanese Imperial Palace in Tokyo during festivals. 

As soon as Asato made his appearance, all the other middle-aged man's companions cheered very loudly and the band started up a lively tune as they marched around in a circle. The racket was so noisy that some of their neighbors went outside their houses and watched the weird spectacle happening right in front of the Mishima household.

"Ooooohhhh Mr. Tsuzuki, we've searched every nook and cranny and river and mountain and building and temple for YOU~~~we're VERY VERY GLAD~~~!!!" the middle-aged man said as the cheers and the band playing wore on, tears pouring down his cheeks in wavy torrents.

"..." SD Asato had a huge sweatdrop on his head. "Errh..."

"**WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS~~~?!**" Uncle Shu'un bellowed, standing right in front of SD Asato, whose eyes now became miniscule beads. "You're ALL looking for HIM~~~~?! He's my NEPHEW~~~!!! Who are you and what do you want from HIM~~~?!"

"Yes, sir, we're all looking for HIM." The middle-aged man bowed. "My name is High Priest Konoe. We know he's your nephew, and we want him because he was chosen."

"C-chosen?" SD Asato blinked, pointing to himself. "ME?!"

"**Come OFF IT~~~!!!**" Uncle Shu'un bellowed again. He had to bellow because the cheering and the band playing has already reached a feverish pitch. "How could this boy be even CHOSEN?! And what do you MEAN by being CHOSEN?!" 

"He has been chosen to go there," High Priest Konoe said simply. "The oracles have been right. The time has indeed come in order for the Darkness be lifted from the land, and he, along with other children who are 'special' like him, shall be sent to the land beyond the Western Seas in order to hone their gifts." 

"G-gifts...?" 

"I am sure it is what his parents would have done, as you may probably REMEMBER," High Priest Konoe said, his eyes narrowing. 

It was as if the middle-aged man said a very disgusting swearword. Uncle Shu'un's face become purple, and Aunt Fuuko took in a sharp intake of breath with her pallor very pale. Kou'un looked politely puzzled. 

Asato blinked. He couldn't remember how his parents looked like; Aunt Fuuko told him that they abandoned him in their care when he was just a small baby barely a week old. Ever since he learned how to think for himself, Asato had been wondering how his parents looked like. All he could come up with were just silhouettes. 

"I will NOT have those...those 'things' uttered in my HOUSE~~~!!!" Uncle Shu'un said, clenching his fists. "Now if you have the decency to LEAVE sir, I ask you---no, I ORDER you---to get off my PROPERTY~~~!!!" 

"We would not leave without the BOY and you KNOW it. And you can't stop him, either. It had been 10 long years since that 'incident' happened, and we looked all over Japan for their son, and you've hidden him well enough, even better than a tiny needle in a haystack. But don't think that you could hide him forever, we've been searching long and hard for him and now we've finally found him. He is the last Tsuzuki." 

LAST Tsuzuki? 

Aunt Fuuko clenched her fists. "No, we will not HAVE it~~~!!! We are his remaining RELATIVES and you can't take him away from US~~~!!! You'll see, I'll call the police and tell them about this, what you're doing is KIDNAPPING~~~" 

"Oh, go drown yourselves in Lake Biwa, the both of you (based on Hagrid's line when he first met Harry and the Dursleys were forbidding him to tell that Harry's a wizard; just borrowed and modified it a bit, so no suing!). Fuuko, your younger sister's only SON~~~!!! I can't believe you." High Priest Konoe then smiled warmly at Asato again, who by now has become a very confused chibi puppy. "Mr. Tsuzuki...I MEAN...MASTER Tsuzuki. We have come from a very faraway place to search for you...and we've just arrived in time for your 10th birthday." 

Chibi puppy Asato blinked once, twice, then his amethyst eyes widen. In all the confusion and weirdness he just encountered, he completely forgot that it was his 10th birthday. 

Then, as soon as the high priest said that, all of them knelt down and kowtowed right before chibi puppy Asato, whose eyes had now become miniscule beads. The band started up a "Happy Birthday" tune on their instruments, to which all of them had started crying, their tears pouring in wavy torrents down their cheeks. 

"**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MASTER TSUZUKI~~~!!!**" they all bellowed in a monotonous, singsong voice. It was like listening to a bunch of arthritic ancient Chippendales doing _a capella_. 

Chibi puppy Asato sweatdropped, a helpless look on his face, one of his tiny puppy ears drooping down low. 

From the very murderous looks his uncle and his aunt were giving him, as if blaming him for engineering the whole deal, SD Asato gulped. If they were to ask him, he'd rather eat a million cacti than be horrendously punished after this "fiasco" was over. 

High Priest Konoe shot a closed right fist in the air. 

"Let's PARTY~~~!!!" 

And all of them crashed into the house like one single dark blue _tsunami_ wave, bowling his SD relatives over in the process as they yelled and their voices faded away in the distance. 

Asato could feel his insides shrivel up. 

This was becoming a birthday party that he would rather NOT remember. 

Asato didn't know what scenario made him feel the worst of all ever since the party started. 

High Priest Konoe's companions brought along lots of food, carried in all sorts of containers and various expensive-looking lacquer ware, and they ripped right through the main dining hall of the _samurai_ villa like a very furious dervish, and had a dinner spread fit enough for the Emperor of Japan himself in less than 10 seconds flat. It was alright, just don't count in the ridiculous-looking folded paper hats (like the one the high priest wore) and those party favors that sounded like foghorns that exploded in and around the table, amidst their gay laughter and Asato's ears bleeding from all the noise it created (it had enough abuse from his Aunt Fuuko's screeching). And all of them kowtowing in front of him whenever he said anything, whether they were in the middle of eating _sushi_ or drinking _sake_. It was just making him dizzy, all of them doing the same thing over and over and over and over again. 

High Priest Konoe insisted on seating him on a pile of Aunt Fuuko's expensively silk covered and embroidered _zabuton_ all throughout the dinner AND the "ceremonial" bearing of the gifts. Again, it would be OK, just don't count in the way the emcee was announcing them to the whole household. It was complete with frenzied cheering and kowtowing to those listening (kneeling in 2 rows flanking the "pathway"), as if they were all afflicted with some sort of bacchanalian disease. The emcee was reading them off from a VERY long piece of rolled-up parchment in a booming voice that sounded like he was proclaiming some imperial edict, and could be heard for about 50 miles around them. 

They also held some games and entertainment fit for temple festivals for their whole neighborhood: a mini _bunraku_ play (depicting the flight of the 12 gods), acrobatics, traditional Japanese archery shooting gallery (OO;;), catch-the-goldfish-with-a-paper-net, fortune-telling, and, to Asato's chagrin, karaoke. Hearing the "Happy Birthday" song from the arthritic Chippendale musical revue was bloody enough, but nobody could have ever prepared him for the high priest's voice. It sounded like a bunch of ancient musical saws with their figurative teeth coming off loose as the songs wore on.

The party well lasted into the night. Just as the clock struck 10:00, High Priest Konoe clapped his hands twice, and fast as lightning, his companions dismantled everything they set up on the estate's vast grounds (for the games and entertainment), cleaned and put everything back in order inside the house (sparkling clean at that), marched out like some soldier regiment outside the compound, and the high priest saying goodbye to Asato.

"Remember to send us an owl by the next moon so we could fetch you," the high priest told him. He then gave his relatives a death glare. "If we don't receive your owl by the next moon, we'll still come and get you anyway. Is everything clear, Master Tsuzuki?"

"E...errh...yes, sir..." Asato replied. 

"Good." High Priest Konoe then leaned over and gave him another grandfatherly smile. "Always keep them close to you. They'll protect you from harm."

He gestured to the 2 chicken-like stuffed toys perched on top of his mountainloads of presents. Asato nodded, his eyes thin little slits. "Y-yes, Konoe-san..."

With a small nod, the high priest kowtowed one last time in front of Asato, along with his other companions. "Fare thee well, -Guardian of the Shikigami-. Until we meet again."

"**HAIL, MASTER TSUZUKI~~~!!!**" his companions yelled.

They then left, singing an arthritic rendition of "YMCA" (OO;; complete with costumes whipped out from nowhere and such) as they went down the pathway leading to their house, and into the highway, the paper lanterns they were holding aloft on bamboo poles swaying like so many fireflies in the dark night.

Asato was about to think where to put all his presents away when a dark shadow loomed over him and whisked him away into nothingness.

Asato knew too well that it was just too good to last.

He was serving his harshest punishment ever, sleeping out in the open where the mosquitoes could eat him as much as they liked, without any protection whatsoever from the insects nor from the bitter, freezing cold of the evening. All his presents were put it Kou'un's room for his own enjoyment, and chances were very bleak for nourishment for the last week before he returns to school (and, in the light of things, his schooling looked doomed also; Aunt Fuuko screechingly told him as she pushed him outside to sleep there that she was considering making him a complete servant boy without any wage and no more schooling). The only thing that kept Asato's mind away from the biting mosquitoes and cold of the evening was the note that Grein had given him which he opened amidst tears that pooled in his eyes and splashed unbidden on the parchment itself.

It was yellowing, and it looked pretty old. The handwriting was neat and very graceful, which showed a masterful touch of a master calligrapher's hand.

_Dear Asato,_

_How are you? By the time you read this, you'll already be 10 years old. Are they treating you well? Momiji had been very anxious that her sister may not be able to accept you into their household in case things go for the worst. Oh, she also sends you her love. As I'm writing this, she's singing you a lullaby. She has a beautiful voice. I wonder...could you hear her voice where you are now? She believes you could hear her, even if you are deep in her womb. I just smile at her, to which she would throw a zabuton at me. _

_Have you met Grein? Yes, it was to him I gave this letter. With all the Dark wizards going around, he is the only person I could trust aside from Professor Dumbledore at Hogwarts. They are all looking for me. As for your mother, as well. Things have steadily been deteriorating between the Muggles and our kind; especially here in Japan where there is now a very strong anti-wizard sentiment. Yes, Voldemort has been defeated by Harry Potter, but that didn't stop the Death Eaters from marching. They continue to sow discord upon every Muggle nation and schools of wizarding; there is talk of bringing upon the new age of darkness, as they so call it. The last thing I heard before your mother and I went into hiding was that they are out for wizard blood. It's even worse than the days when Voldemort was in power a long time ago._

_The noose is slowly tightening, and time is scarce and very precious. Your mother and I had been very anxious, and for this reason, Momiji had asked her father's good friend, High Priest Konoe, to take you to her sister in case things go for a really horrid turn. It is very sad that Momiji and I may not be able to see you, as I could sense the trap laid and ready to be sprung at us any moment now. For that one thing we really regret, is not to see you grow up, and all of us together as one family. It is our dearest, dearest wish; now Momiji has broken into a "Card Captor Sakura" medley, it's a good thing she's pregnant with you or else I'd be forced to see a Takarazuka dance medley AGAIN for the umpteenth time. Oh well. You can't have all the good things in life, anyway._

_The stars are quivering in the night sky, as Momiji sings you "Groovy!". Well, it's getting late, and we still have to visit High Priest Konoe in Tohoku tomorrow. Till I could count the sparse hairs on my Uncle Haru's nose, I would be waiting very eagerly for you. As with your mother._

_Happy birthday, Asato._

_With dearest prayers and wishes,_

_Makoto Tsuzuki_

_PS. Do you have Gushoushin with you? In any case, kick them for me._

Asato was still dreaming of a 100 foot tall sundae cone when something soft and warm covered his forehead.

"He's alright, _nii_, you don't have to worry. By Enma, covering all those presents with anti-Muggle _o-fuda_ sure did scare the hell out of that Muggle devil. Do you think we should report this to High Priest Konoe right away?"

Asato slowly opened his eyes.

And soon uttered a yell that could very well be heard on the other side of the Pacific.


	3. The Arrival of the Chickens of DOOM!

The Arrival of the Chickens of Doom

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: SORRY for a VERY long upload drought....^^;; I was having problems with our web server and I just can't frigging upload. ^^;; Anyway, here I am, about to write another chapter of Asato's so-called life before Hogwarts. Uh...DID I just SAY that....O.o;; OK, Asato meets the Chickens of Doom, Gushoushin, who are the High Priest's most trusted assistants, and who in turn would help Asato go through the last hell weeks before finally boarding the Hogwarts Express on September 1st. YAY! Asato would also go through all the many rituals of being Hogwarts first years...that is, taking a trip through Diagon Alley with some unexpected surprises. Heh heh heh, the first time he would meet MURAKI! OhmiGOD! Then it's all aboard the Hogwarts Experess with a somewhat neurotic mad scientist kid, a freak with some female "touch-me-not" problems, an eternally happy little girl, a kid who should've been made a banker, and a kid who hates company. Plus, the YnM gang gets SORTED~~~!!! And the entrance of a girl who seems to be giving Asato-chan some weird heart problems, the enigmatic Elene Falcrest. And some new, surprising twists, involving Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the old Hogwarts gang. R/R please! ^.^ 

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Yami No Matsuei and Harry Potter. They are owned by their original authors. The OC's portrayed herein are mine, though, so no suing! Thanks.

Asato was still yelling when one of the weird chicken-like creatures shushed him, a very panicked expression on its face. 

"SSSSHHHH~~~~!!! Master Asato, not so LOUD~~~!!!" the chicken-like creature told him. "You'll wake up all the Muggles!"

"M-MUGGLES?!" Asato was still terrified. "Don't come NEAR ME~~~!!! I promise I won't eat CHICKEN EVER AGAIN~~~!!! PLEASE~~~!!! Just don't HURT ME~~~!!!"

"Chicken?" Its companion blinked. "Oh, I get it, you think we're CHICKENS. Don't worry, we're not the Chicken Gods of Doom, so go on and eat chicken all you like."

"W-w-well..." Asato gulped. "You ARE chickens, aren't you?"

"No, we're NOT chickens!" The first chicken-like creature who spoke to him gave an indignant ruffle of its feathers. "We're far beyond any fowl creature, chicken or otherwise!"

"T-t-then...w-what ARE you?!" 

"Not what, WHO." The second chicken-like creature bowed slightly. "We're Gushoushin, 2nd Class Deities under Enma Daioh-sama, Keeper of the Books of Knowledge...well, that is, until Enma Daioh-sama assigned us to become High Priest Konoe's assistants in order to aid him in his quest regarding the Crimson Shrine of the Tsuzuki Clan, as it has been for the last 30 years. We know your father pretty well ahead of you, Master Asato, and I daresay you are so much like him. High Priest Konoe in turn sent us here to look over you against those meddlesome Muggles."

"???" SD Asato blinked. "Muggles? Crimson SHRINE?! Just who the heck am I really, anyway?! And...do Aunt Fuuko and Uncle Shu'un..."

"Well, those troublesome, meddlesome Muggles are well taken cared of, and we've already sent an owl to Hogwarts to say that you're safe in our care," the first Gushoushin replied. He nodded. "High Priest Konoe told us that we should send an owl straightaway when we've finally secured you, Master Asato."

"Secured me..." Asato waved his arms in the air frantically as he sat up. "WAIT A MINUTE~~~!!! You still haven't told me what MUGGLES ARE~~~!!! And who I really AM in PARTICULAR~~~!!!"

"Important things take quite some time. Do not worry, it would be revealed to you when you reach Hogwarts." The second Gushoushin raised up a piece of parchment and an eagle feather quill. "Does first class sound fine to you, Master Asato?"

Asato was wide-eyed as the Gushoushin had helped him in getting all his stuff in the hallway of his relatives' house 3 days after. 

"Is it all, Ichi?" 

"Yes it's ALL, Ni." 

Asato looked over at his Aunt Fuuko and Uncle Shu'un, who were really quiet, which was quite a shock, since his aunt would probably screech herself hoarse by now, for leaving them like this. Not that she'd care, anyway. Today, her lips were pursed firmly into one very thin line, and it seemed as if she was chewing it thoughtfully, as if, there was something she wanted to say out loud but something was stopping her. It became evident when Asato looked real hard and saw a huge pair of crossed band-aids upon her throat, which had weird smiling mouths upon them. His Uncle Shu'un, meanwhile, was just standing there, but the aura about him was akin to something like a very enraged bull with most of its nose hairs plucked out (if they had any). A huge vein kept popping and throbbing on his forehead.

"Well, that's just about it." A young man with a small horn on his forehead and was wearing a sleek red uniform that had an embroidered _kanji_ meaning "nine" nodded as he looked up from his clipboard and smiled easily. "This would be taken to the Leaky Cauldron right away. Are you sure these are all there is to it?"

"Yes, Number Nine. That is all."

"Alright then." Number Nine produced a small leather bag which he opened as he knelt down and started putting ALL of Asato's things in it, including the many huge crates and boxes and trunks the High Priest had sent him for his birthday. Even how much Asato tried to understand what he was seeing, it was still very shocking nonetheless, and both his aunt and uncle were staring at the "clearing operations" with both of their mouths hanging open. "Nothing like a good Put-All Charm to keep things in order. And yes, it has enough room to put a dragon in it to spare!"

"Very handy. You could fit an entire Muggle football team in there, and nobody would notice." Gushoushin Ichi (the one with the red cap) nodded. "Well, we'll see you in Diagon Alley, Number Nine. And oh, could you tell Tom to put out his best tea when you get there? I've a rather fond liking for English tea and those biscuits he serves with them. Thanks!"

"Yes, I'll tell him," Number Nine nodded, smiling. With a faint "pop", Number Nine disappears in a blink of an eye, leaving his aunt and uncle with their eyes very wide and their mouths hanging open.

"So. I guess this is farewell." Gushoushin Ni nodded. "We'll be waiting right outside, Master Asato."

"What...where did he..."

"He must be halfway across the Pacific by now, he still has to deliver some rather gruesome Head Shrinking Potions for the case against the Dark Wizards Society, New Orleans Chapter. Shrivels and pops out without any fuss. I tell you, the potions those mad hags are cooking up, nowadays." Gushoushin Ichi nodded again. "Number Nine's quite the intercontinental Apparator."

"H-huh?"

"We'll be right outside."

The 2 Gushoushin left. Asato blinked then turned to look at his aunt and uncle.

"Errh...I guess this is goodbye. See you around..." Asato said in a small voice.

Aunt Fuuko sniffed. Uncle Shu'un just glared at him.

"I'll...try writing postcards for you. Um...oh, is Kou'un fine?"

"Don't mention his name, you devil whelp," Uncle Shu'un hissed at him. "Thanks to YOU, he'll have those Oni Busters for all frigging ETERNITY."

"I...I didn't know~~~"

"Bashing him with invisible squeaky hammers all DAY~~~!!!" Aunt Fuuko wailed. "Only, it would SEEM invisible because Kou'un is the only one who could SEE them hitting HIM, and he'll be CRAZY the time he gets to SCHOOL~~~"

The enchanted band-aids about her throat constricted, and Aunt Fuuko made a gagging noise. Uncle Shu'un clenched his fists. "Leave before I send off the Rottweilers at YOU~~~!!!"

"R-right~~~!!!" SD Asato ran out of the house, seeing that his uncle was very serious in letting off the rabid Rottweilers at him.

"Well, let's go," Gushoushin Ni said, smiling. Asato blinked.

"How could we get to where Hogwarts is without any plane, boat, or TRAIN tickets?!"

"Here, just grab onto this," Gushoushin Ichi told him, holding up a battered skateboard. SD Asato sweatdropped. "So...we're supposed to do some fancy handstands to get to Hogwarts...?"

"Just hold it, Master Asato."

Asato reached out and held the edge of the battered skateboard.

"3...2...1..."

Asato felt as if there was a hook behind his navel that jerked him forward and a very strong wind that rushed about his ears. He closed his eyes and soon he was spiraled off into nothingness. 

Asato was having a very beautiful dream involving a 30-feet tall chocolate Ultraman that was wreaking havoc in a city with bonbon vehicles and edible praline skyscrapers when somebody reached out and shook him gently awake.

"Eh, Mr. Asato, sir? It's 7 in the morning."

"...huh?" Asato opened his eyes slowly and saw the wizened face of Tom, the old bartender of the Leaky Cauldron, peering down and smiling at him with that enormous gap between his teeth.

"Can't I just sleep a little while longer, Mr. Tom? I'm still dizzy..."

"Well, that would be fine, Mr. Asato sir, but then you'll get in the back-to-school rush," Tom replied. "I tell you, it's every Hogwarts first year's nightmare."

"Oh, alright." Asato sat up on his huge puffy bed, yawned, and blinked sleepily as he struggled to put the room into focus. "Where's Number Nine?"

"He's waiting downstairs, Mr. Asato, he's just come in."

"OK." Asato nodded, then put on his fluffy blue slippers. "Tell him I'll be down in a minute."

"Right away, Mr. Asato sir."

The bartender leaves, then Asato stood up and stretched his arms way above his head. He looks out of the curtained window of his room, where he saw Muggle London going on without noticing a magical tavern towering right above it.

He took a quick shower, then got dressed in a soft warm blue sweater, a pair of pants, and rubber shoes, all the while combing his hair, before making his bed and hightailing off downstairs where Number Nine was standing by the counter.

"Your breakfast is on the table, Mr. Asato sir," Tom told him with his almost toothless grin on his face.

"Thanks, Mr. Tom." Asato nodded at Number Nine. "Hey! Number Nine! Do you care to join me?"

"I am just fine, Master Asato, don't worry about me. Do go on and eat your breakfast."

"OK, if you say so." Asato sat down to a breakfast consisting of some sausages, Chinese fried rice, eggs, a banana, and a tall glass of cold pumpkin juice that he was beginning to quite like in this strange new world he was now living in. Asato smiled happily then dug into his still hot breakfast, can't believing he's finally eaten a REAL breakfast at long last.

"Here, your letter arrived just as you hit the sack yesterday," Number Nine told him, as he handed Asato an envelope with a wax seal upon it. Asato blinked, took the envelope, and flipped it over. His address was written in beautiful, cursive handwriting in emerald green ink.

Mr. Asato Tsuzuki

The Room Over The Chimney,

The Leaky Cauldron Pub 

"Nothing like a good Translate-A-Scribe Spell to make things easier," Number Nine said, nodding. "High Priest Konoe made sure it was infused into that letter before sending Oru with it yesterday. He's been meeting with the Ministry of Magic over talks of securing you with a pair of Translate-A-Scribe Glasses, or a Translate-A-Scribe Glass Orb. But the risks involved in it are too dangerous, because Translate-A-Scribe products could translate EVERYTHING in the wizarding world, including very advanced Dark magic kept in the Library of Secrecies. And you're still quite young, to boot."

"Is that so?" Asato was puzzled. "Why would I even do that?"

"Let's just say you're very 'special'." Number Nine nodded again. "Inside that envelope is everything you'll ever need in order to survive the first of your whole seven years studying in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Asato lightly tugged the envelope open with the blunt edge of his eating (^^;;) knife. He then pulled out some old parchment, on which everything was written down again in the same emerald green ink. He noticed that the letters had some sort of crest on top: that of a griffin, a serpent, a badger, and an eagle joined together to form a letter H.

He then proceeded to reading the letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL 

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards) 

Dear Mr. Tsuzuki,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Asato looked at the second parchment.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags AND Crest Tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells, Revised and Abridged (Grade I) _by Meredith Goshawk

_A History of Magic, Revised and Abridged_ by Bettina Bagshot 

_Magical Theory, Revised and Abridged_ by Adolphus Waffling

_Transfiguration (Grade I)_ by Ederich Switch

_The Magical Flora of the World_ by Neville Longbottom

_Magical Drafts, Potions, and All-Cures _by Phyllisa Jigger

_Mystical Menagerie_ by Charles Weasley

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to the Unknown _by Elridge Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard Weasley size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.

Still another.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Dear Mr. Tsuzuki,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the Arcane. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. 

I await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Grein Silverbough,

Head Fayre

COURSE BOOKS

_Summoning: Of Eidolons and Other Spirit Fayres_ by Celestina Etherby

_The__ Light and the Darkness: White and Dark Magic_ by Emerssonn Eversleigh

_Aetheria_ by Madelyn Mysteria

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 staff 

1 divining rod

1 set of rune stones

1 star chart

1 omni globe

1 set _o-fuda_

Asato blinked. "I can find ALL of them here in Diagon Alley?"

"If you know where to look." Number Nine nodded. "Come on." 


	4. Diagon Alley, REPRISE!

Diagon Alley (Reprise!)

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: OK, this is the 4th chappie! Asato goes into Diagon Alley for surprises and then some. The journey to Platform 9 and 3 quarters was very EVENTFUL to say the least, and there he meets the rest of the gang! THEN HE GETS SORTED~~~!!! XD XD XD I want my SORTING HAT~~~!!! 3 R/R PLEASE!

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Yami No Matsuei and Harry Potter; they are owned by their respective authors. I own the OC's portrayed herein, though. So no SUING~~~!!!

Hermione Weasley was very startled to say the least when the mail for the Council of High Wizardry came in the daily morning owl post that particular day.

"Anything from Hogwarts?" Regina Weasley asked, as she struggled to wrestle (^^;;) her hyperactive nieces onto their high chairs, who were in their very restless stage. Regina, who preferred to be called Ginny, understood the tireless patience one would really need whenever he or she had to deal with the newest Weasley twins. Her mum had a really hard time with George and Fred, and now it was VERY easy to see whom her twin nieces took after. George had been really proud of Eldanne and Eldenne, and he said that he was VERY relieved when he saw for himself that the legacy of his and his other twin brother's were safe and secure by means of their DARLING nieces.

"I'm very relieved we have someone to pass the torch on to, when we finally decide to kick the bucket," Fred told them in a joking manner when they all met during Sunday dinner last week. "At last the legacy of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes would live ON in the hearts of MANY~~~!!! Well...when they grow UP, that IS."

Molly Weasley gave him a glare so withering Fred had silenced himself halfway through the sweet rice pudding. The atmosphere in the Weasley household, the Burrow, was akin to the atmosphere of having to trod over broken eggshells, wherein one un-witty remark would make Mrs. Weasley snap. It hadn't really been the same when wizarding folk like themselves could still walk freely under the sunlight without fear or persecution from all the Muggles around them, which seemed like centuries ago. The defeat of the Dark Lord should have been made a time for great rejoicing, but something caught them unprepared and now Muggles are out for wizard blood. Count Lucius Malfoy to make things really worse for all of them. Almost all of the wizard families they knew had become so frightened of even going out for a stroll through Muggle London to get to the Leaky Cauldron without being hunted down by angry lynch mobs even if they heard just any single thing that was not really quite right with them. Ernie Saddleberry from the hill beyond the Burrow was last seen carrying milk bottles to his Muggle customer in the next village 2 days ago. Apparently some nasty Snitcher revealed information that he WAS a wizard, and he was NEVER seen again. There were rumors of Death Eaters going on and about every Muggle village or city tossing unforgivable curses here and there, although nobody was quite sure what made them become even more terrible and powerful and ruthless. As a result, Muggles became terrified of anybody who was acting oddly out of place, and whispered gossip in the Leaky Cauldron or remaining wizarding family in the village of Ottery St. Catchpole told of Snitcher "victims" as being hauled off to a place even more terrible than what the wizard prison of Azkaban was many years ago. In any case, Mrs. Weasley's reaction was VERY understandable, for Arthur Weasley, William Weasley, Charles Weasley, and now Ronald Weasley are out there at the expense of their very own lives, a swinging scythe suspended right above their very heads which, if they took one wrong slip, could very well mean the END of being ALIVE. Fred and George were left to take care of the women and children, if the Snitchers would cause any trouble, and Hermione was very afraid for her children, even if they WERE half-Muggle. 

"No, not anything," Hermione said in a small voice. "I sure HOPE Hogwarts is STILL in one piece, the last time I've heard from Hagrid was like 2 years ago."

"Of course it's still standing, Hermione," Ginny told her as Eldanne started spooning Cerelac over her twin sister's hair. "You received your S.N. O.R.E.'s last week."

"I know. Still...I couldn't help it." Hermione bit her lip as she held up the unmistakable gold envelope for Ginny to see. "I got one from the Council of High Wizardry, though. It's concerning the 'special class' Professor Dumbledore's nephew would be handling."

"Professor Dumbledore's NEPHEW? I didn't know he even HAS one," Ginny replied, her brown eyes wide. 

"I didn't know either," Hermione confessed, tearing the edge of the envelope open. "Sirius had been sending me regular letters from his 'place' every single chance he gets, whenever he's not on the run from those horrid Snitchers. He was very surprised when Professor Dumbledore told him about his nephew and about that 'special class' he was very excited about. Sirius DID tell me that Professor Dumbledore would be receiving the verdict from the Council of High Wizardry very soon, and I guess it's very urgent as they sent me a letter, as well."

"Well, you ARE the special emissary," Ginny told her. "You're Muggle-born and very clever and even the slyest Snitchers could not even mistake you as a witch by a hair. Besides, you had been under their wing, as assistant to Head Sorceress Essena Olbeck. As your training during your last term at Coventree."

"I know. But I don't want to know what they should say about it. I'm very frightened." Hermione sighed. "But then again, I should stop acting silly and start acting like any respectable 30 year old woman would. Harry would have my head."

She peered down at the parchment, read silently for a few minutes, then her eyes widen. She looked over at Ginny, who was looking at her sister-in-law expectantly. Ginny cocked her head to one side. "Well?"

"They've approved it." Hermione was now very shaken. "This...this is good news, but...when did we even...how did it even..."

"That's great! Those Dark Wizards wouldn't stand a chance by now! It's time for us to get things back in order to the way it WAS." Ginny looked at Hermione. "Why aren't you happy, Hermione?"

"Section 34,567, paragraph E: '_...anything dealing with High Fayre and Aetheria is strictly forbidden, even in very dire situations_'. Oh Ginny, this time they've done it! The Council must have found a way around that particular written law as to get on with this CLASS. They've become really serious." Hermione nodded. "I will be heading to Hogwarts on September 1st; I shall have to see for myself if the Council had done the right thing. There's still little precious time to be wasted, and if this fails, then all hope would be lost for the entire wizarding world. I have to go tell Harry." 

"It is Darwin's first day at Hogwarts and you will be taking him. Yes, I understand." Ginny nodded. "I'll go tell mum right away."

Asato was still looking through the list of his course books, trying to memorize them by heart, as he followed Number Nine to the back of the pub, where the narrow pathway ended in a battered dead end wall. Asato walked right onto Number Nine's back because he wasn't looking, then he looked up, surprised.

"Stand back, a little, if you please," Number Nine told him, brandishing a small wand. Asato looked at it interestedly. Ever since he arrived at the Leaky Cauldron last night, he really, REALLY wanted to see some serious magic. But his exhaustion got the better of him and fell asleep right away the moment he hit the soft, warm cushion of the bed. The Gushoushin had mysteriously gone too. The last thing he remembered before drifting off to Never Never Land was hearing them tell Asato that Number Nine would be picking him up this morning, and so he waited. Number Nine was the one who would be taking him to go buy his "school supplies".

Number Nine's wand went 3 bricks up, then 2 bricks across, and he nodded and tapped the wall with it. The wall before them suddenly had a small hole at the brick where Number Nine had tapped (the brick wiggled out of the way), and the hole became bigger and bigger until they were facing an archway large enough for a giant-sized man could go into, and he turned to look at Asato and gave him a small smile.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, Master Asato," he said with a small bow. "If you please?"

Asato slowly walked inside, his amethyst eyes wide and blinking. He soon saw himself walking down a cobble stoned street lined with neat little shops at the side, and filled with MANY people that were both ordinary and curious at the same time. He could see them wearing strange cloaks and pointed hats and talking in such excited voices it seemed as if they had been really dying to tell each other THOSE things that sounded so familiar yet very strange. 

"Have you heard the latest in _Quintessential Quidditch_?! I hear the World Cup would be featuring ONLY 7 TEAMS!" 

"I guess we should be thankful we're lucky, I thought we only had 7 PLAYERS left." 

"The Snitchers are just getting to us, don't you think so? Just listen, 230 wizard raids in just over 3 DAYS~~~!!! At the rate we're going, we'll only have Quidditch with half a Quaffle left and all the Bludgers wiping out what's left of the audience." 

"Ah, I do miss Quidditch," Number Nine said with a dreamy sigh. "The Japanese contingent was supposed to head for the World Cup, but sadly, the Dark Wizards Society of Tokyo unleashed a horde of goblin foxes with serious panache for the Bogguleus Curse at them and they lost a lot of heads. Figuratively. The poor folks had to be entered into the Institute of Mental Magical Health and had thought of themselves quite erratically as a bunch of _yuki onna_ even if they were all men. Too bad. I'd never see Kamikaze Katsuragi do a 900 on his Sleipnir 200 ever AGAIN." 

Asato looked over his shoulder and saw Number Nine, and saw the archway turn back into a wall all over again. He blinked. "Quidditch?" 

"Well then, let's go get yourselves your school supplies. But first we have to drop by Gringotts. Alright, Master Asato?" Number Nine nodded. "Let's go." 

Asato was wide-eyed. Number Nine was smiling as he gazed at the young Tsuzuki as they walked down the familiar cobble stoned pathway again. "So? We'll get your uniform first. Um, you don't mind if I slip back to the Leaky Cauldron for some change and a glass of orange whiskey? I'll just meet you when you finish getting your uniform, I won't take that long." 

"OK," Asato said mechanically. 

"Listen Master Asato. Just keep this Translate-A-Scribe stone close to you for a while, you'll find it real handy when talking to the merchants. Alright?" 

"Yes, Number Nine." 

"Good, good. See you in a bit then, Master Asato." 

He was gone with a small wave and a smile. Asato waved back at him, then he slowly turned on his feet, his stomach turning into lead. Now what's wrong in this picture? A Japanese boy left in the middle of (obviously) British English Diagon Alley. He gulps. He sure hoped that he would be fine by himself and not transport himself to Transylvania by accident. 

He looked around. There were lots of really interesting shops, and Asato wished he had 20 more pairs of eyes so he could look at them all at once. There were a couple of shops down his path that certainly piqued his interest: shops overflowing with books as huge as Grecian columns (he recognized them as books when one elderly man stopped and opened one of them on display outside, where a series of squiggly writing could be seen going across the soft yellowed pages from top to bottom); an Apothecary (BARGAIN PRICE~~~!!! 50 Sickles to a dragon liver scoop); a wizarding equipment shop (Try our latest self-cursing wands - a must for every Snitcher fearing wizard! Trial stages, buy at your own risk [trigger wand handles]); a sweets shop (Asato restrained himself on buying the Triple Cream Fudge Nut Sundae which could be eaten in cups as huge as dinner plates); a magical pet shop (Buying secondhand phoenixes - starting price 150 Galleons); a shop filled with broomsticks; and even one with nothing inside (Madame Constance Picuous' Invisible Shop of Invisibles - your dream wardrobe for just about NOTHING!). Asato was reminded of that fairy tale he always read by candlelight as a little boy and was reminiscing about it when he soon found himself standing in front of a shop that proclaimed Madame Malkin's - Robes for All Occasions. 

He gulps and goes inside. Madame Malkin, he surmised, was a pretty redheaded young woman dressed in all mauve. 

"First year at Hogwarts? Oh, I'm really happy to see you, I haven't seen much first years the last 10 years I'm minding this shop since mum passed away," the young woman said. "Please do come in. Another boy's being fitted up just now, I'll just go get the tape measure." 

Asato nodded, then walked into the room that was located at the back. A boy was already there who looked at him just as the self-measuring measuring tape (^^;;) measured the distance from his chest to his knees. 

Asato blinked. The boy smiled at him kindly. "Hello. Hogwarts too?" 

Asato nodded, then was surprised to hear him talk to him in Japanese. 

"Don't be surprised. I'm Japanese like you. Just arrived today, Saki had been so disagreeable mother had to bring him to the Lunarium just to keep quiet. By the way, are you by any chance Asato Tsuzuki?" 

"Y-y-yes," Asato stammered. "How...how did you..." 

"Oh, High Priest Konoe had been prattling on for weeks on end saying that he's found the last Tsuzuki. He was ever so joyous when he told us in class that day. And besides, those amethyst eyes aren't common. It's the birth mark of every Tsuzuki." The boy smiled, his silver eyes crinkling in mirth. "My name is Kazutaka Muraki, by the way. Did you come with those chickens?" 

"Chickens? Oh, you mean Gushoushin?" Asato shook his head. "No. I came with Number Nine instead." 

"Too bad. I was hoping I'd get some of their chicken fluff before they get hauled off to the Hogwarts library anytime soon." 

"What? Are they to be there as librarians?" 

"Curious, why Professor Dumbledore agreed to such arrangements. Talking chickens normally don't get any jobs except traveling as sideshow freaks. Oh well, you can't have them all." 

Asato decided that he was liking Kazutaka Muraki less and less every passing second. 

"So what have you decided upon receiving your letter as Arcane? I was hoping to become a Summoner." Kazutaka smiled at him in a creepy way. "But then again, I definitely can't compete with you, as the last Tsuzuki. But I'll try real hard. You can't ignore all those 12 Shikigami guarding you anyway." 

"Shi...Shikigami..." 

"Alright, let's get you fitted," the young woman announced, hurrying in with a tape measure in her hands. "Would you stand beside him, please?" 

Asato gulped. He had a feeling Kazutaka Muraki had definitely liked that arrangement, and he was getting goosebumps. He sure wished Number Nine would hurry and get him pretty soon. 

Number Nine came soon and helped Asato with his shopping. They all brought all the necessary items needed for his first year stay at Hogwarts and then helped him pack for his ride to Hogwarts the very next day. 

Asato had some trouble putting his books and his equipment into trunks he would be using to transport all his things a little hwile later when he decided to ask Number Nine that one question that had been bothering him ever since the day he had met Grein. 

"Number Nine...who am I exactly? Am I that special? How could I even become special? The only thing I'm good at is running away when those kids lob stones at me whenever I came home every afternoon." 

"Yes you are, Master Asato. You are very special." 

"What is it with being a Tsuzuki? Am I supposed to become a super human or something?"

"You'll learn in due time."

"And what are Shikigami?"

"The Gods protecting the Crimson Shrine. They are the ultimate birth right of every Tsuzuki born as the next heir. They are just asleep within you, waiting to be called forth if the need ever arises."

"I...could call them forth?"

"Yes." Number Nine saw the very frightened look on Asato's face then he smiled and patted his head. "You'll be a great man someday, Master Asato. Don't be frightened. The Gushoushin and the rest of your classmates at the Arcane would help you out just fine if you ever feel too anxious." He nodded. "Now get some sleep. We have a long way to go tomorrow morning." 

The Hogwarts Express, the shiny scarlet steam engine train (^^;;) looked every inch as marvelous as Number Nine said it would be.

Asato looked around and saw the platform jampacked with people, mostly parents with their children, and the cacophony of meowing cats of every shape and color, owls hooting, and irritable croaks of toads that were clearly indicating that they were very tired and needed to rest added to the confusion that was now reaching its breaking point as the time of departure drew nearer.

Number Nine helped him with his trunks as he got into a spare compartment.

"Write to High Priest Konoe as soon as you get yourself settled in Hogwarts," Number Nine told him. "Just send it by Seymour - he'll know where to find him."

Seymour was the beautiful silver eagle owl Number Nine had bought for him for his pet. The magnificent eagle owl was currently asleep with its head nestled comfortably under its wing.

"OK."

Number Nine was nodding as he got a small brown paper wrapped parcel from somewhere within his robe pocket then gave it to Asato.

"Take care of this at all costs. This is your pair of Translate-A-Scribe reading glasses. High Priest Konoe had sent this via Unspeakable Owl Post just a while ago."

Asato nods.

"Alright. I trust you'll have the a great time at Hogwarts? Write me if you ever need anything. I'll be at your dorm step in a jiffy."

"Yes, Number Nine."

Number Nine gave him a hug.

"Have a good time, Master Asato. Master Makoto did, and he would be very sad if his son wouldn't have a good time." 

"I will."

Number Nine left, and soon Asato was all alone. 

At least for a couple of seconds.

He hears a couple of Japanese-speaking voices, and soon a corn blond haired young boy pulled the sliding compartment door open.

He grinned, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses.

"Eh! Mind if we sit down here? all the compartments are full. By the way, my name is Yutaka Watari. What's yours?"

Asato opened his mouth to answer, when another voice came from somewhere behind the newcomer.

"That's Asato Tsuzuki."

Both Asato and Yutaka Watari turned to look. Kazutaka was smiling at them benignly.

"Glad to see you aboard the Hogwarts Express, Asato. I'll be seeing you very soon." With that, the pale boy smiled again and was soon out of sight.

The small light brown haired pale boy beside Yutaka sniffed, then frowned.

"I hate him. He's so evil."

Yutaka grinned.

"So how do you like Hogwarts Express by far, Asato Tsuzuki?"

*******************

NOTES: YUKI - ONNA are snow women of ancient Japanese legends. They are only seen in snow storms and if they found a guy they like, they'll lure him in and freeze him to whatever evil purpose they would so want to do with him. Yuki - onna of note include Yukina of YYH, Yuki (I think) of Hell Teacher Nube, and Teacher Yuki of Akazukin Chacha.


	5. The Sorting Hat Sings The Blues!

The Sorting Hat Sings The Blues!

AUTHOR'S NOTES: GGGGGOOOOOOMMMMMEEEEEENNN for not being able to upload for the last 2 weeks, I was having problem with my internet prepaid credits. Oh, and the fact that I was reading "The Order of the Phoenix". It's just so cool, but....well, confusing, to say the least. The only thing I could tell you about it is just that it's WAY too angsty. Hmm, don't worry, the storyline would still go as planned, I wouldn't be affected in any way by the way the Harry Potter novels are coming right along from the 5th to the 7th. Sirius Black is just SOO fine! 3 3 3 In this installment, Asato takes a ride through Hogwarts Express and meets Watari, Hisoka, Tatsumi and Terazuma and Wakaba. Muraki gets a sniveling companion in Oriya (gomen to Oriya fans out there). And FINALLY, the SORTING! Um, would Asato make it to the Quidditch team?! Not if Chibi Suzaku could help IT! Look for it in the next chappies. R/R PLEASE~~~!!!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yami No Matsuei and Harry Potter, as they are owned by their respective authors. Thank you, Youko Matsushita-sensei and J.K. Rowling! Without you my Muggle life would be SOO damn boring. This is dedicated to all the YnM and Harry Potter fans out there with torturous and Touda-flaming love. BTW, gomen for the Sorting Hat song if it falls a little flat. I'm not that good at poetry, anyway...^^;; So no SUING~~~!!!

Yutaka was still grinning at him, Asato couldn't help but grin back.

"Um, OK, by far." Asato blinked. "Hogwarts, too?"

"Well, YEAH, we're not bound for Eton or something, as we're riding the Hogwarts Express," the small pale boy with light brown hair said sarcastically as he came from behind Yutaka and stood beside him. He looked at Asato with unbelieving eyes. "From what side of the world have you been AT, anyway?"

"Um...Japan. Kyoto."

"Me, I'm from Osaka, but I was born in Kyoto," Yutaka said, still smiling easily at Asato. "Bon here's from the Kanagawa region, Hachioji, to be precise."

The small pale young boy had a gargantuan twitch on his forehead. "I've decided that I HATE that name."

"Bon...is that your name...?" Asato asked.

"Of course NOT! I don't know with Yutaka here, but he's calling me THAT ever since he decided that he likes frigging BONBONS!" The gargantuan twitch multiplied into a gazillion tiny ones. "My proper name is Hisoka Kurosaki."

"Kurosaki..."

"You know, they're that old loony family who deals with hotels and shipping," Yutaka said in a rather casual way. "Bon here is supposed to take over the business empire as its 16th (or was it 17th? I stand corrected HERE~~~!!!) head of house by the time he reaches the ripe old age of 20. The way I understand it, his parents are on their way to the Institute because they're starting to see Dark wizards everywhere. Well...that's what Bon says."

"My parents had been loony ever since the day I was BORN, Watari. Grandfather was the only sane one around before Mother finally decided to bludgeon me to death, so there." Hisoka Kurosaki frowned. "Not that I'm proud of having lunatic parents, it's just that they're dead useful when DOM's come round our house and decide to hit on me one time too many."

"They're..." 

"Yep, absolutely CRAZY, that's what they are." Hisoka closed the sliding compartment door behind him. "Mind if we join you here? I just can't stand Muraki, he's strutting around as if he owned the place."

"Oh." Asato gestured to the comfortable built-in puffed-up chairs behind him. "Sure. I have plenty of room to spare."

The Hogwarts Express was soon on its way, and Asato, who was seated by the windowsill of their compartment, watched as the people on the platform sped by, until they turned the bend and was soon out of sight.

"I do hope I get into Gryffindor, I hear it's the best house around..."

"I definitely wouldn't want to be put in Slytherin, I just could imagine those upper years hitting on me time and again..." Hisoka muttered.

Asato peeled his eyes away from the neat houses with well-manicured lawns to look at his 2 new friends, who were now busy perusing the parchments they held in their hands. "Uh...Yutaka? What's Gryffindor and Slytherin?"

"The Hogwarts Houses," Yutaka replied, looking over a parchment on which showed a colored picture of a small boy with a serious cowlick who kept waving and waving at his unseen audience, grinning so broadly that one could clearly see the gap where his 2 teeth have gone missing. "The Houses are so much like dorms, you know; every Hogwarts student gets initiated into one of them, and they're like your family when you're in Hogwarts. You eat with them, take classes with them, hang around with them if you've got some spare time to kill waiting around for your next class..."

"There are 4, and they are named after the 4 greatest witches and wizards of our time, when magic was considered taboo and aligned with the Dark forces," Hisoka continued, not looking up from the book he was reading. "There's Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Better Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw than Slytherin. From what I've read about Slytherin, it's just the worst place to be, for almost all wizards or witches who came from there became part of the Dark wizarding world."

"Dark wizarding world..."

"But Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord, and there was an uneasy peace that settled in," Yutaka said, nodding, as the boy in the parchment started picking on his nose. "It was like a good 5 years of peace before the world came crashing down our ears again as the Death Eaters marched anew. Nobody knew what actually happened, but it was like this: after 5 years of peace and quiet, the Dark World comes crashing into our world again, and now, even Muggles, aside from the Dark wizards, are out for wizard blood loyal to Professor Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix and all of the wizarding community is in terror and chaos."

"Hogwarts, along with some other magical schools of learning, who are loyal to international wizarding and Muggle cooperation, anyway, are considered the safest places in the world, for those seeking protection from them," Hisoka said as he turned a page. "Hogwarts, where Professor Dumbledore's residing, is the safest, in the Council of High Wizardry's standards."

"..." Asato turned chibi puppy, his eyes little beads. "Gee. Where did you guys learn all THAT?"

"My father's an Auror working for the Japanese branch of the Council of High Wizardry. He keeps us posted on the comings and goings in the wizarding world. It's just very unfortunate that there are Snitchers watching the Floo Regulatory Board Channel, we hardly get news from overseas. The last time my father's office bravely sent a man forward, he came back...or what's left of him, anyway...inside half a matchbox."

"My grandfather's one of the directors of the Japanese branch of the Council of High Wizardry, and he's in charge of the Overseas Portal Committee. If we can't use the Floo network, then why don't we use portals, instead? But the portals are still in their early stages of development - they're like Portkeys, only more inconspicuous - some of the Testing Wizards ended up in the Bermuda Triangle and they couldn't get back."

"I see..."

Soon the neat little houses gradually turned into a patchwork of neat little fields, with houses and pockets of trees sandwiched in between them. Asato could hardly believe that the quiet people who lived there hated wizardkind, and were out crying for their blood. As he was pondering this newest question, there came a soft rap on the door, and the 3 of them looked up to see who it was.

A small girl with curly chestnut brown hair and eyes stood there beside a dark blue haired boy, who kept skulking out of their view every so often. "Um, excuse me...could we sit here? The other compartments are filled with girls."

"Uh, sure, OK!" Yutaka grinned. "This compartment's good enough for 8, so come on in!"

The little girl came in, dragging the boy by his collar, then closed the sliding compartment door shut, albeit very painfully, on the boy's left foot.

"OUCH~~~!!!"

"Sorry about that, Hajime-chan..."

Hisoka blinked. "Uh..."

"My name's Wakaba Kannuki, and this here's my cousin, Hajime Terazuma," the little girl said, with a polite little bow. She accidentally let go of the little boy, who gave another yelp as his head hit ground zero.

"OUCH~~~!!!"

"Sorry about that, Hajime-chan..."

Asato stared at Hajime Terazuma, whose eyes, by now, had become little whirling spirals. The reason of his skulking became very apparent as he saw pointed ears sticking out from the confines of his short dark blue hair.

"What happened to him?"

"Oh, it was very unfortunate, really. Aunt Reika became so scared of an _oni_ one day, who turned out that he had a really terrible crush on her. He's become a jilted suitor, so to speak, so when Hajime-chan came out, there was not much the elders could do. He put this curse on him, so when a girl touches him even accidentally, he becomes...well...a REALLY big monster." Wakaba Kannuki had a really helplessly cute look on her face. "It's OK if we stay here, yes?"

"The more, the merrier," Yutaka answered. He wiggled out of the way to make some room for the both of them, and Asato went over and sat beside Hisoka. Wakaba got Hajime then plopped him unmercifully down on the cushion, which unfortunately still had Yutaka's book on top of it, and so he got hit on the head again.

"Hey, Wakaba...aren't you a girl?" Asato asked. "How come you could touch him and he doesn't turn into a REALLY big monster?"

"I'm the only one who could successfully put that sealing _o-fuda_ upon him," Wakaba replied, while Hajime was still unconscious, his eyes now turned into little X's. "And...I don't know, I think my own mother put a countercurse on me, so there."

"That's really handy." Yutaka blinked, then he held his hand out to Wakaba. "Oh, before I forget, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Yutaka Watari, and the pale boy with the book is named Bon, and the amethyst-eyed one is Asato Tsuzuki~~~"

"My NAME is not BON~~~!!!"

"I mean, Bon's name is Hisoka Kurosaki."

"Asato TSUZUKI?!" Wakaba turned SD as she stared at Asato with wide, very disbelieving eyes. "I can't believe IT!"

"You better believe it." The sliding door of the compartment opened again, and a boy with dark chestnut hair and blue eyes behind gleaming glasses appeared, staring straight at Asato.

Asato's eyes became little beads. "Uh..."

"I'm here on my father's behalf, Ichiro TATSUMI~~~!!!" The boy glared at him. He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he did some mental calculations, putting them down on paper, then handed it over to Asato. "You're one Knut short on the PAPER NAPKINS~~~!!!"

"..." Yutaka had a huge sweatdrop on his forehead. "Self-wiping wipes only cost a Knut, you know, and it's not like the manufacturer would DIE if a Knut accidentally rolled away or something..."

"To you it's a KNUT, to hardworking wizardkind, it costs 3.5 minutes cost of WASTED LABOR~~~!!!" he said passionately. The boy was still glaring at Asato, who by now had become an even more minute chibi puppy. "So hand it OVER! Or do you want me to shake it off of YOU~~~?!"

"..." Wakaba then handed him a small bronze coin on his outstretched hand. "Well...would that suffice?"

"..." The boy quieted right away. "Thanks."

Hisoka was blinking at him. "Now who the heck are you?"

"You're looking at the wizarding world's FIRST HUMAN Gringotts banker," the boy replied, pushing his glasses up his nose so that it gleamed again. "My name is Seiichiro Tatsumi. And a Knut would not go wasted ever AGAIN~~~!!!"

"I don't think I'd want to go back to Gringotts again if he's the banker," Yutaka whispered loudly enough for Asato to hear. "I figured he'd have major heart attacks if we missed a Knut short on the paper napkins AGAIN."

Asato laughed.

"That's NOT a laughing MATTER~~~!!! Self-wiping WIPES are the BASIS for a wizard's everyday grimy TROUBLES~~~!!! They clean, they disinfect, and the Scourgifying Cream took YEARS to perfect, it was known to wipe faces clean and DEVOID of any facial features in its pre-RUNS~~~" Seiichiro Tatsumi went on.

"..." Hisoka sighed and then returned to his book. "Self-wiping wipes advocates. Boy oh boy, now I've REALLY seen it all."

The journey took them 6 hours, considering the many anti-Snitcher charmed tunnels they had to pass through, and, once, one of the Safety Wizard Conductors had to perform a Memory Charm on a Muggle who happened to pass by the side of the railroad tracks, calling to his horse that had somehow managed to fly itself up a tree (a really bad case of a Repellius Charm gone awry, as Yutaka told Asato). 

"You have to be really good with fly-by wand shooting, or else you'll have your friend forget why he's up in the railposts dangling down in the first place," Yutaka told him in utter seriousness. Asato had a very strange feeling that Yutaka performed that one and had his own friend hanging down the railposts skimming along the railroad tracks where he came from.

The witch with the lunch cart came by some time later, and in addition to sweets and other confectionery Asato had almost emptied his pockets off (and to which Seiichiro was telling him off again for wasted money), there were also some self-cooking lunch plates which came in student-friendly prices and set luncheons. Asato chose for himself a steak plate, a tall pitcher of pumpkin juice for everybody else (the pitcher keeps refilling itself), and a small sack of sweets and other confectionery (Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Ginger Newts, Lemon Quills, Chocolate Frogs, Apple Crumbling Crumbles, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Jelly Snitches, and Tooting Truffles).

At last the train was slowing down, and Asato could see wild stretches of scenery whizzing outside as he stood up with the rest of his newfound friends. 

"First years this way please," a tall blond girl was saying. "Move along!"

"What about our~~~" Asato began.

"From what I heard, the wizards from the Hogwarts Castle would take care of all our belongings," Hisoka told him. "So no need to worry."

The Hogwarts Express was one complete bedlam as the students all around them pulled on their respective robes and climbed down the steps into Hogsmeade Station. 

"Firs' years! Firs' years, this way please!" a booming voice called out in the confusion. 

"That's us," Yutaka said, pushing Asato along. "Come on, we're going to miss the trip!"

They followed the nervous throng of other first years, and soon emerged at the edge of a lake.

"No more'n four to a boat!" a giant of a man was calling out to them. 

But Asato wasn't listening to him for he, along with the other first years, were looking out onto the great big black lake (it was early nighttime, anyway) and the huge castle that was sitting majestically atop a huge mountain that towered over pretty much everything else.

"Everyone in?" The giant man nodded. "Right then - FORWARD~~~!!!"

Asato almost fell into the water, wherein Kazutaka caught him, with a small pleasant smile on his face. Both of them were riding on a small boat with an ornate lamp front, gliding smoothly across the glassy surface of the lake, with no means of any external means of making it move like so (^^;;). A hundred boats like theirs were also cruising the lake with the same mode of locomotion, the giant man riding up front and holding a lantern aloft. Asato turned into a huge stone block, while Yutaka was talking to Hisoka up front, and Hisoka was glaring right at Kazutaka.

"Easy does it, Tsuzuki-san," Kazutaka whispered, smiling. "I do believe Fate has brought me here. Isn't it so, Tsuzuki-san?"

Asato decided that falling headlong into the waters that skimmed on either side of the boat he was on was much more welcoming than Kazutaka Muraki.

He was hoping Kazutaka would NOT get into the House he's going to be Sorted in.

He would really die if that were just the case. 

Professor Minerva McGonagall peered at them severely through her square-rimmed glasses.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet would be beginning shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you would all be sorted into your respective houses. Now, the Sorting is a very important ceremony, for because, while you are here, the Houses you would be all sorted into would become your family while staying at Hogwarts. You would have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin; each house has its own noble history, and has produced several outstanding witches and wizards. Throughout the term, while you are here at Hogwarts..."

SD Asato was rubbing his forehead, as he was trying to take in all the translated words into his head (by means of his Translate-A-Scribe stone lent to him by Number Nine), and it was giving him a major headache. He saw Yutaka, Hisoka, Wakaba, Hajime (who was trying in vain not to get too close to any female around him), Seiichiro, Kazutaka, and another small brown haired boy beside him listening to the old woman up front in rapt attention, as if they understood perfectly what she was saying. Then, after a few more jumbled words, Professor McGonagall then led them in, and Asato tried not to look too nervous, frightened, and confused all at the same time.

"Professor McGonagall says that when we're about to be sorted a little while later, we'll all just come forward when she calls out our names from the rolled parchment she's holding and hold the Sorting Hat over our heads," Yutaka whispered, as a round-faced man went down the center of the magnificent, floating candlelit hall, holding a three-legged stool on which sat a very sorry looking pointed wizard's hat.

SD Asato looked at him, round-eyed. "You...you understand what she just said...?"

"Hey, those English courses were really major dendrite busters, but yeah, it really paid off," Yutaka told him. He blinked at Asato. "You...don't?"

Asato gave a panicky little nod.

Yutaka was horrified. "But...but I'm SURE they'll...High Priest Konoe will..."

At that precise instant, the whole hall quieted, and Asato heard somebody clear his throat and started to sing in a croaky little voice.

_"A long time ago, in the days of yore,_

_When life was simple it was really more of a bore,_

_There came wizards and witches four,_

_Who thought that magical learning would really make wizard understanding soar._

_Brave Gryffindor,_

_Brave and filled with chivalry and candor;_

_Patient Hufflepuff,_

_Saw learning from seeming bits and fluff;_

_Wise Ravenclaw,_

_Whose wisdom was sought and saw;_

_Cunning Slytherin,_

_Whose sly and crafty ways earned him win._

_Now these noble wizards and witches,_

_Saw magical learning as a way for errant switches,_

_For Muggles to differentiate the Darkness from their kind,_

_To mend the rifts and strengthen the ties that bind;_

_So they all set out and created Hogwarts School,_

_Where learning is learned and magic is a tool._

_And so after they created this magnificent edifice,_

_They set out to create me, and as they, I aim to please;_

_To put each student in his or her place,_

_Was a task that I unerringly had to face._

_So then put me on, don't be scared,_

_There are a lot of others more who dared and who fared;_

_To be, to be not, _

_To be sought, or left to rot;_

_It's all in your mind, you hear,_

_So put me on, and receive a lot of smiles and cheer,_

_For I'm the sentient Sorting Hat..._

_For that is fair...and that is THAT!"_

The quiet audience broke into marvelous applause, and they cheered and they whistled. Asato stared at the pointed wizard's hat he had seen earlier. It can't BE...he can't be the one...

"Wow, I never realized I would be hearing a Sorting Hat song in my entire life," Hisoka said, awestruck. The Sorting Hat was clearing its throat every so often as if he just delivered a heart-stopping aria.

"The...that HAT was just...SINGING?" SD Asato asked incredulously.

"Yes...isn't he wonderful?" Wakaba was jotting down the lyrics on a piece of parchment she had managed to filch out of her robe. She smiled. "I'm planning to collect all the Sorting Hat lyrics and we'll release them in a Japanese version! What do you think, Asato-san?"

"Uh..."

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long scroll of parchment. "When I call out your name, come forward, put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."

The audience quieted again.

"Ashley, Connor!"

A small boy with unnaturally straight light blond hair came forward and sat with the hat on top of his head.

"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!" shouted the hat.

One of the tables in front of them erupted in cheers as Connor Ashley went towards their table and sat with the rest of them. 

"Atkins, Lisa!"

"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"

Lisa Atkins joined the Ravenclaw table, where she was greeted with more cheers.

Professor McGonagall continued reading names from her parchment, the faces of Asato's fellow first years becoming more and more nervous, and as "Bowman, Kyle!" became "GRYFFINDOR!", Asato looked at his other companions, and found them as agitated and as uneasy as he was.

"Bryce, Marion" became the first Slytherin, and Asato turned to look at the Slytherin table as some of them stood up and clapped their newest member on the back. They were a rather unpleasant-looking lot.

"Carson, Melissa!"

"HUFFLEPUFF~~~!!!"

"Hey, Yutaka...what if...the Sorting Hat can't make up its...mind? You know, when a student puts it on top of his head?" Asato asked.

"I don't know. Go back to the Muggle world, I guess?" Yutaka replied.

Professor McGonagall went on, then cleared her throat as she came upon the next name on the list.

"Falcrest, Elene!"

There was a soft murmur from among the surrounding tables as some of the older years (all of them guys) craned their necks to look at the next person to be sorted. 

"Falcrest, did she say?"

"The FALCREST!"

"She can't be here?!"

Asato turned to look. A small girl came from the far side of their first year contingent and walked over to the stool where the Sorting Hat lay in wait. She then picked it up and put it on her head, which was a size too big, then waited for the Sorting Hat's judgment.

"I can't believe she's actually here..."

"The FALCREST?!"

Asato blinked. "Sorry. Who's...the Falcrest?"

"A member of the legendary Cambridge Chevaliers team," Yutaka replied, his eyes widening. "Her father, anyway. From what I've heard, they're extremely wealthy, and aside from being a very excellent Quidditch player, Lawrence Falcrest was also known as a very good Auror, along with Harry Potter, himself. Mr. Falcrest and his wife, together with Harry Potter, Hermione Weasley, Ronald Weasley, and a couple of other Aurors, comprise the best Auror team the Council of High Wizardry has EVER known."

"O...K..."

"Harry Potter's Mr. Falcrest's teammate on the Cambridge Chevaliers team, too, before the accident," Yutaka continued. "Mr. Falcrest's eldest son, Kieran, died in a freak accident...he was Captain of the Gryffindor House Team, the youngest as he was admitted on his second year...and they said he was the best Captain Gryffindor ever had, after Oliver Wood and Angelina Johnson. A Death Eater managed to escape through the Gryffindor House's Cloakers' protection and...well...things got REALLY bad. If Kieran were alive right now, he'd be around 15. Mr. Falcrest had sworn off Quidditch ever since, and he's devoted most of his time trying to try catch the Death Eaters who had so selfishly taken his only son's life away. There were rumors that went around, saying that he was planning to take his youngest daughter to Coventree...their family started the wizarding university, by the way, by means of their noble ancestors...but now, Elene Falcrest's here, and I guess he sort of bounced right up again after 2 years." 

"I see..."

The Sorting Hat declared Elene Falcrest as a Gryffindor, and among mixed applause and whisperings, she took her place at their table, where several guys began pestering her with autograph requests almost at once. Asato felt for her. It must be real hard for Elene, as she was here, and she was to live at the dormitory where her older brother had died 2 years ago.

"Ferguson, Dylan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF~~~!!!"

"Finnigan, Eilie!"

"GRYFFINDOR~~~!!!"

"I think I'm going to be SICK," Hajime whispered, wherein Wakaba patted him gently on the back. Asato turned to look at him, and indeed, he looked a little green. Hisoka was peering intently at the other first years who were being Sorted, while Seiichiro was looking around them, looking for anybody who might be wasting Self-Wiping Wipes 500 meters around his vicinity.

"Fawcett, William!"

"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"

"I wonder if we get a separate room for ourselves? Or is it a spin-a-win sort of thing?" Yutaka wondered, as "Gates, Seymour" became a Slytherin.

"I have no idea," Asato replied.

There came "Giles, Herbert"...then "Hart" and "Hartley"..."Ipsen", "Ilham" and "Iverson"...then "Johnson", then "Jurgen", then...

"Kannuki, Wakaba!"

There were whispers as some of the students in their respective House tables looked over at the small young girl as she leaned towards Hajime.

"Sorry about this, Hajime-chan...try to keep out of harm's way, will you?" Wakaba told her cousin as she looked at him anxiously.

"OK..." Hajime said weakly. He then went over to where Asato, Yutaka, and Seiichiro were huddled together and squeezed himself in far away from any girl. Wakaba took one last look at her cousin, became satisfied, then made her way towards the stool, whispers going out like little fires hissing all over the place. 

"I heard there was a Japanese contingent, I thought it was only a rumor, and now I guess they're here..."

"How did they manage to escape Snitcher detection?"

"Unbelievable! I can't believe they're ACTUALLY here..."

Elene Falcrest, Asato noticed, blinked, then looked over at where Wakaba was now sitting with the Sorting Hat on her head, an interested expression on her face.

The Sorting Hat took a full minute to decide, until it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR~~~!!!"

There was scattered applause as some of the people on the other tables started whispering furiously. Wakaba put the Sorting Hat graciously on the stool then went over to the Gryffindor table, who welcomed her with very thunderous applause.

"Just what we need, a backlash..." Yutaka fumed.

Asato blinked. "Huh?"

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat then went on. There was "Karchowski" and "Kerchovsky" then finally...

"Kurosaki, Hisoka!"

There were even more mutinous whispers. Asato had no idea what was going on, but Hisoka went bravely forward, jammed the Sorting Hat on top of his head, then was declared a Gryffindor a few seconds later. He joined the Gryffindor table amidst thunderous applause.

Asato blinked. What was happening?

He didn't have time to think as the Sorting went on. "Larson, Sarah" became a Hufflepuff, then "Lawson", "Leroy," and "Lourson"..."Malfoy", "McKinnon", "McLarsen" and...

"Muraki, Kazutaka!"

"SLYTHERIN~~~~!!!" the Sorting Hat shouted before Kazutaka could even take a step towards the stool where the Sorting Hat was placed. There were several more mutinous whispers, and Yutaka was blinking.

"Gosh, the Sorting Hat could feel his evil even from this far off..." he whispered, as Kazutaka took his place at the Slytherin table. Asato looked over at where he sat and Kazutaka gave him a small languid wink.

He shuddered.

"Murray, Edwin!"

"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"

"Yutaka, do these people hate us?" Asato asked as "Neal, Stacey" became a Hufflepuff.

"..." Yutaka just bit his lip. "Father said we'd be seeing something like this, but I had no idea it would turn out this BAD..."

"Why?"

"Let's just say that we're not exactly welcome here, in any sense," Yutaka replied as "Northridge, Gregory" became a Gryffindor.

"?"

"Oriya, Mibu!"

"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"

The small brown-haired boy Kazutaka was with went towards the Ravenclaw table.

"Orwell, Michael!"

"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"

Asato was still thinking this over when Yutaka nudged Asato.

"What?"

"Do you have any plans trying out for Quidditch?"

"Qui...Quidditch...?" Asato blinked, then bit his lip. "Uh...I don't know...well, are you?"

"I'm planning TO, but then again this backlash would be working against me..." Yutaka replied as "Oswell, Miranda" became a Ravenclaw. He nodded. "I'm planning to try out for a Keeper, or a Chaser. I didn't waste catching all those spoiled pomegranates at the house for nothing..."

"Spoiled...pomegranates..."

There came "Park", "Perkins", "Perry", "Phillipos", "Portman" and "Pucelli"...then "Quincy"...then "Ramsey", "Randell", "Reynolds", "Richards" and "Rothschield"..."Salley", "Samuel", "Seton", "Surtsey"...and finally...

"Tatsumi, Seiichiro!"

Seiichiro went purposefully towards the stool, then giving Asato a death glare (or it seemed like it), put the Sorting Hat above his head then waited for the verdict.

The Sorting Hat looked as if it was having a hard time where to put Seiichiro until it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR~~~!!!" after 4 whole minutes.

"Gee, I guess the Sorting Hat was having a hard time to decide if the Knuts were working for or against him," Yutaka said, stifling his laughter so that it came out as a muffled snort.

"Terazuma, Hajime!"

Hajime scuttled to the relative safety of the stool before he could make any female skin contact (almost sending Asato and Yutaka flying out of the way) then put the Sorting Hat on top of his head.

"GRYFFINDOR~~~!!!"

Hajime scuttled to where his cousin was seated then sat beside her, then realized too late that he was seated very close beside Hisoka (who sat at his other side). There was general chaos when Hajime turned into that huge monster and several female Gryffindors screamed and got out of the way, and some of the teachers stood up when they saw that Hajime was getting way out of hand.

"No, Hajime-chan!" Wakaba yelled as her now monstrous cousin stood up to wreck havoc at the other tables. Yutaka was wide-eyed as the general chaos that resulted went on around them, sending some teachers rolling up their sleeves and getting their wands from beneath their robes, and their Stunning Spells ricocheted all around them (Stunning ancient Argus Filch, who croaked and fell over, along with a now somewhat skeletal Mrs. Norris and some students in the ensuing confusion) because of Hajime's spell-resistant monster form, until Wakaba finally managed to calm Hajime down by means of putting a sealing _o-fuda_ on his forehead. 

"I thought Hajime could only NOT touch females?" Asato asked, as Wakaba and Hajime were sent straight to the hospital ward (along with some of the Stunned victims) after the rather hair-raising experience.

"I guess he also can't touch males who look too feminine, as well. Bon didn't get that 'DOM Pick of the Month Award' ever since he learned how to walk for nothing," Yutaka mused as the shaken students went back to their respective tables, those at the Gryffindor table now giving Hisoka a wide berth. Hisoka didn't seem too perturbed about it.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat (albeit nervously this time) then looked at the parchment she held in her hands (which were by now shaking slightly).

"Tsuzuki, Asato!"

At his name there came an even more restless furor. Asato looked at the students, who were all busy whispering furiously amongst themselves, then he looked over at Yutaka, who nodded at him.

"Go on, don't mind them."

Asato nodded then timidly went over where the stool was, and put the Sorting Hat on top of his head.

"That fiend!"

"The nerve!"

"He shouldn't be allowed in, I wonder what Dumbledore's up to, again..."

"What's he doing here, anyway?!"

Asato gulped then waited for the verdict.

"Lots of courage...my, and LOTS of talent," said the small voice in his ear. "You're going to be great, boy, I tell you...you have enough power by means of your Guardians...and yes, they will certainly look upon you with both awe and fear..."

Asato kept unusually quiet.

"Yet underneath your innocence lies a beast lurking in wait. Yes, it is very hard indeed." The Sorting Hat paused. "Now where shall I put you?"

***_Anywhere as long as it's not with Kazutaka Muraki..._*** he thought fervently.

"Not with him, eh? But then, both of you would do great things, VERY great things..." The Sorting Hat nodded. "If that is the case my little friend, then not with him shall I put you. Go on then, take the path you choose...and to greatness, may it lead you. You are so much like that boy I Sorted a long time ago...if not with Slytherin, then you go ahead and be with **GRYFFINDOR**~~~!!!" 

It shouted the last word to the throng of expectant faces, and there were whispers as Asato stood up and went to the Gryffindor table, who greeted him with a rather lukewarm applause. He took great care not to sit beside Seiichiro, who was giving him a look, then sat right beside Hisoka.

"Welcome to the club," Hisoka muttered.

Asato didn't know what to say to this, so he just shrugged then looked over at the table at the end of the room where the teachers all sat. He saw the giant of a man who took them right across the black lake earlier, then the round faced man who brought the Sorting Hat in on a stool, a man and a woman talking close together, a woman who was staring at the throng with very wide eyes, then a very old man with snow white hair, who sat beside a silver-haired man who looked awfully familiar...

Then Yutaka plopped right beside him as he was declared a Gryffindor, along with a red-haired boy with brown eyes toting a thick pocketbook. He sat beside Elene.

"Hey! What do you know...we're all part of the club!" Yutaka whispered as "Yates, Vincent" was declared a Ravenclaw.

"I don't think it's such a good idea with you hanging around here in Gryffindor, Yutaka," Hisoka muttered back.

"Hey, Bon, how could you even think THAT?!"

"My name is** NOT BON**~~~!!!"

The round faced man came down again, got the Sorting Hat and its stool, then the whole room quieted. Asato looked up at the ceiling and saw that they were all sitting underneath a canopy of floating candles under a brilliant starry sky.

"Oh, I didn't know that we're outside," Asato mused.

"It's enchanted to look like the skies outside," Hisoka answered him. "I've read about it in _Hogwarts, A Revised History _." 

"I see..."

The very old man in the center of the table got up, helped by the familiar silver-haired man in all silver, and Asato was struck by the mere gravity of his presence that sent the entire room into complete silence.

The ancient man smiled, and his clear blue eyes twinkled.

And at that precise instant, Asato knew that he was home at last.

*************

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Yeesh, this is my** LONGEST** chappie ever. Expect major upheavals in the upcoming chappies. And do I hear Harry Potter, Quidditch teacher?! Cha-CHING~~~!!! 8D Wait a minute, is Oriya his surname or is it MIBU?! ^^;; In any case, whatever place he has on the roll call, he'd still be Ravenclaw. 


	6. Quidditch, Rebus, and Rheingeld

Quidditch, Rebus and Rheingeld

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Albus Dumbledore making a farewell speech, the birth of the Gryffindor Mystical Five, Quidditch tryouts, and the new Hogwarts faculty. Muraki gets a nasty surprise by means of Chibi Suzaku. And...the newest craze hitting wizarding children and hobbyists everywhere...Rebus and RHEINGELD~~~!!! And...a mystery "date", involving Asato and Elene. ^^;; R/R please! **On an added note, the edited Sorting takes place in the previous chappie.** Read on and ye be the judge of what I have written here.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Yami No Matsuei and Harry Potter; they are owned by Youko Matsushita-sensei and J.K. Rowling, respectively. Rebus and Rheingeld are mine, though, along with the OC's; on another note, the Rebus card game is based on a card game in Tales of Destiny II (or more appropriately, Tales of Phantasia II) mixed with a little Final Fantasy VIII and IX, so no suing!

Everybody in the Great Hall was looking at the ancient man up front, and Asato, who was struck by his mere presence, was quiet as well.

"Welcome...welcome, to another wonderful year at Hogwarts! I am most delighted to see you all here, especially to the newcomers to the Hogwarts family, the first years!" the old man said in a surprisingly strong, audible voice, and by the twinkling expression in his eyes Asato could tell that he was really very delighted. The old man cleared his throat. "Before we start the Start of Term Banquet, I would like to say 5 words to you: Mymphus, Ohrlic, Bercroft, Kyriean, and Rothgar."

"Thank you!"

Asato blinked. "Wha...what was THAT he said..."

"He just recited the 5 goblins who pioneered the Wizarding - Non Human Peace Treaty of 1375. Unfortunately, the head ortalion or basilisk turned all of them to stone before the Treaty was signed because one of the hosts forgot to remove a crowing rooster outside his inn where they were to sign it," Hisoka muttered as he got his fork and knife. "Suffice it to say, no treaty had become very successful after that. Crispy chicken, Asato?"

Asato blinked. Sure enough, the gold platters spread in front of their plates were magically filled up with food, and it was everything he only dreamed of in his wildest gastronomical fantasies: beef and pork casseroles, chicken pot pies, fried crispy chicken, lamb chops, pork chops, pot roast, succulent steaks, bowls and bowls of mashed potatoes, silver boats of gravy, buttered vegetables, mojo potatoes, chicken curry, fish croquettes, and for some strange reason, _bouillabaisse_-filled bread bowls. Asato got a little of everything and started to eat.

Soon, the talks became relaxed then turned to their families.

"I'm 3/4 Muggle. Our family used to roam the Irish countryside until the Snitchers got most of them, and Papa married a Muggle with strong wizard sympathies just to be able to survive," Eilie Finnigan said, nodding. "My mum's quite a rebellious type, and my grandfather couldn't do much about it so he just let us be."

"I'm pure Muggle, and my parents were terrified when I got the letter; they were forcing me to drop it and do Eton, instead," Kyle Bowman said through a mouthful of beef casserole. "Mum was very scared the Snitchers would get to them in no time, they've been doing those rounds lately...I managed to hitch a ride on the Knight Bus and my mum's sister had a bit of string pulling over at Eton so that's why we're still in one piece."

"My mum's Muggle-born but my dad's pure wizard stock, so I'm half and half," Darwin Weasley said, cutting up his steak. "Mum was thinking of sending me up to Coventree after Hogwarts; I do hope I pass enough S.N.O.R.E.s to get in."

"..." Asato blinked. "What are S.N.O.R.E.s?"

"Supremely Nauseating and Overwhelming Reductor Exams," Hisoka replied as he put a cut-up steak into his mouth. "It's a must if you want to enter a really great job of choice nowadays. Students with top O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s are the only ones allowed in, and that's saying quite a few." 

"O.W.L.s are Ordinary Wizarding Levels taken when a student is in his 5th year at Hogwarts, while N.E.W.T.s are taken whenever you are going to apply for a job other than getting admitted at Coventree," Yutaka added. He shrugs. "Dad wants me to become an Auror, and they say the best Auror training in the entire wizarding world could only be found at Coventree. Almost all of the able-bodied people who used to teach over here have moved to Coventree, after the Giant Wars 12 years ago." 

"Giants?" 

"Giant GIANTS." Yutaka made a rather exuberant swinging gesture with his arms. "They're really huge. I never realized that there are still lots of giants up and about; Dad reckoned the last ones were killing each other off in a rather alarming rate, now that they don't have that much options to survive anymore. Anyway, there was a group of them who were so close to almost ripping Hogwarts in half. Nobody knew how they manage to get past those Cloakers...there was talk going around that it was an inside job, and almost all parents pulled their children out of Hogwarts faster than you can say 'Quidditch'. It was quite a while before they sorted things out and Hogwarts was back in full operations the next school year. Suffice it to say, the student population took a drastic drop, when the first years by that next year totaled to only 11. It's feared that magical education would be wiped out if we all don't do something really fast; if that happens, then those Dark wizards would be laughing themselves hoarse as we don't stand a chance against the enemy if we're all scattered and divided to the 4 winds. It's a good thing that the Council of High Wizardry has successfully managed to curb that scenario...but then anything could still go wrong. I mean, wizarding people are totally scared out of their wits. Nobody knows who friends or enemies ARE anymore." 

"How awful..." 

The last morsels and bowls and tureens and plates of their very hearty dinner were all cleared up, and the plates became magically clean again. Dessert of every kind soon appeared: all flavors and all blocks of ice-cream, with their many variations of garnishing: crushed almonds, walnuts, cashew nuts, peanuts; candies of all shapes, sizes, and colors, syrups and sauces of every kind: strawberry, dark chocolate, white chocolate; candied fruits; rich, creamy cakes and pies and pastries, chocolates of every kind, shape, color, and filling: mint, liquor, nuts, fruit sauce, or melted chocolate; jellies, puddings, candies, cookies...it was a dessert lover's idea of pure heaven. Asato helped himself to a little bit of everything on his plate, and started eating again. 

Soon dessert was finished, and the old man stood up again, after they all had their fill.

"I would like to take this opportunity, before your respective prefects trot you off to your respective Houses, to talk about several important things that would be happening here at Hogwarts. First, I would like to congratulate the first years for a job well done; you are the reason why hope still survives in these very trying times of the still ongoing hatred and persecution against us wizarding kind. I am very happy that you all made it here, for hope is rekindled again that this institution and other magical learning institutions, for that matter, would be still standing firm, to impart the very vast and ever dynamic knowledge of everything known to wizardkind. I all thoroughly thank you from the bottom of my heart."

The upper years applauded very heartily, and the first years either smiled sheepishly, blushed, or took to hiding under their respective House table from sheer shyness. Asato did a hybrid of all 3; Hisoka pulled him to his feet before he could safely duck under the table.

"Second...as our caretaker Argus Filch is in quite a very unfortunate bind right now and has to be taken to the hospital wing...he has told me earlier before hand that he has included 675 more banned objects, giving a grand total of around 2,345 items banned in corridors and especially...classrooms. The new list include Self-Cursing Wands, Biting Bookstraps, and Tooting Toot-Notes. I would like to inform first years that magic in corridors are forbidden, although some still find a rather inventive way of hexing a classmate by means of the Wondrous Wiggling Wagbrows...I should really place an order of those from the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes..."

Professor MacGonagall cleared her throat.

"...where was I? Oh! Yes. Magic in corridors is forbidden, as the Forbidden Forest is forbidden, Hogsmeade is forbidden to anybody lower than third years, defacing school property is forbidden...I guess THAT goes without saying...and a host of others. Mr. Filch has a list of those many terrible don'ts plastered outside his office."

"Third...I am VERY pleased to announce, that starting this year...we would be having 3 new teachers. Stand up and be seen as I call you up, if you please. First, I am very, VERY pleased to welcome back into this institution, your new Quidditch teacher. Everybody, let's give a round of applause...to Mr. Harry James Potter."

"Harry **_Potter_**?!"

"I can't believe IT~~~!!!"

"He's really HERE~~~?!"

Asato looked over at the staff table. A man stood up, wearing a deep green cloak and deep green pointed hat. He had black hair that was haphazardly everywhere underneath it, and deep green eyes behind shiny glasses. He smiled, took a small bow, and was greeted by thunderous roars and applause.

"Harry POTTER~~~!!!"

"Wow!"

"An international QUIDDITCH player~~~?!"

The teachers at the staff table erupted in wild cheers; Asato noted that the woman beside him and the giant of a man at the end of the table were giving him the loudest applause, along with the old man himself.

"For Arithmancy...fresh from graduating with highest honors at Coventree and and a doctorate from Beauxbatons Academy in France...Mrs. Hermione Weasley."

The woman wearing a gold cloak and pointed hat beside Harry Potter stood up and smiled at the students.

"The only woman who got **PERFECT** O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in the ENTIRE HISTORY of HOGWARTS?!"

"You have GOT to be KIDDING." 

"And she's my mum," Darwin Weasley said proudly.

"And finally...for the Defense Against the Dark Arts...may I introduce my nephew, Grein Alberich Eldewynn Sigismund Silverbough. He would also be teaching Elven Studies in years four to six."

Grein Silverbough nodded and smiled at the students, wearing his beautiful silver cloak and silver pointed hat, the candles shining in his glorious silver hair. Several girls in the audience sighed and swooned; some of them actually fainted.

"Silverbough-san!" Asato said happily.

"You've MET him?" Yutaka asked in wonder.

"Yes, he said he's a friend of my father's...he gave me a note from him on my 10th birthday."

"He's SO dreamy..." a sixth year Gryffindor girl sighed.

"I hear he's part Elven. I wonder if that's true?" her companion mused, a dreamy expression in her eyes.

"Just LOOK at HIM. He's too GORGEOUS not to be part **_Elven_**..."

The audience all clapped enthusiastically for the new faculty members. Harry Potter, Hermione Weasley, and Grein Silverbough all took small bows then took their seats.

"Fourth...the England Rebus League would be holding a screening for England's national junior team, open for third years to seventh years. The screening will come sometime near Christmas. I guess all of those aspiring to be one of the English junior Rebus team should start flexing their Rebus Tarot skills right now; you all need to get a lot of practice."

"Fifth...it has come to my attention that a contingent from our quite far-off wizarding community in Japan has arrived, in order to take their higher magical learning over here at Hogwarts. I understand that they are their school's finest, and in behalf of all of the Hogwarts community, I welcome you all here. I am VERY glad that you could all join us; it is nice to know that they have come from across the seas to be with us now, and their presence makes this year and the coming years to be of utmost importance for the rekindling of lost brotherhood. Again, my sincerest welcome to you, dear Japanese first years." 

At this, several whispers broke off all over the place, like so many little hissing fires. There were others who applauded them, however, although it was scattered; Asato noticed that Yutaka's lips were in a thin straight line, and Hisoka was frowning slightly. 

"And last, but certainly not the least..." The old man paused for a while and waited until all the whisperings died down. He cleared his throat before continuing. "As you might have probably heard from your parents, read from the _Daily Prophet_, or heard from grapevines wherever you might be situated...I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, would be retiring from active service as the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the end of this term, for 70 glorious and wonderful years. No, it isn't a rumor. It's off to the sunset for me."

At this, there were several more whispers. Asato blinked. "So he's Professor Dumbledore...?"

Yutaka nodded. "Arguably the BEST Headmaster Hogwarts ever had."

Professor Albus Dumbledore waited again patiently for the furor to die down before continuing on.

"It'll be quite a while before another Headmaster shall fill my place, and the Board of Chancellors has narrowed the aspirants down to three, after careful debate and deliberation. Alas, they still need a full year before they could actually vote another new one in. Hopefully, as the year ends, the Board would be able to choose the worthiest candidate to fill my post and he or she be successfully initiated as the new Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts by the next school term." Professor Dumbledore gave them all a bright smile. "So. What are those long faces for? It's not the end of the world. A year may be too short, but let's make this the best year of all the best years you've all had at Hogwarts...and, this goes to the faculty members who had been under my wing, too. I would all surely miss you, as I will miss the many twists, turns, and rooms upon rooms of this magnificent castle, of which I was also a part of, during my Gryffindor years, when I was still very young and innocent of the ways of the wizarding world." He got his wand from beneath his cloak, which Asato noticed, were sewn with many spectacular moons and stars. 

"So...before you all trot to bed...pick your favorite tune...and...off...we...GO...!!!"

There was the thundering of feet as the students clambered to each of their Houses with their prefects in the lead. Asato was trying to remember everything that was in his new, strange home: the floating, rotating staircases; the paintings that moved and talked; even the shiny suits of armor that he swore turned to look at them as they passed. There were lots of hidden passageways and corridors they passed through; more moving and talking paintings; pearly white ghosts (to which some of their other first year companions shrieked); and the floating spectral menace, Peeves the Poltergeist. Their prefect, a tall sandy-haired boy whom Yutaka told him was named Reginald Longstreth, who had been pointing to them several points of interest along the way like some tourist guide, stopped then pointed to the mischievous and otherwise rude spirit, who was busy writing rude words on the walls, punctuated by loud raspberries every now and then.

"Peeves, Hogwarts' resident poltergeist fatale. Ever since the Bloody Baron has taken to the Slytherin hallways and absolutely refused to go out of it in his 20 year strike, he's been lording it all over the other ghosts in this castle. Mr. Filch has never had a good night's sleep since then; the Bloody Baron's the only one who can control Peeves." Reginald Longstreth then looked over at Peeves. "Peeves! You're doing some redecorating again?"

Peeves cackled loudly when he turned and saw the first years all staring wide-eyed at him. "Ooooh! What cute little firsties! Is it that evil time of the year again?"

"Yes it is, Peeves." Reginald frowned. "So unless you stop that defacement, I will call for the Bloody Baron."

"Hah! Nice try. They've given him enough reason to have himself trapped inside his own loony bin; he won't be chasing after ME!" Peeves let out another loud raspberry.

"You might be smug now, but I think Professor Dumbledore has thought of a brilliant plan. You see...there's a NEW Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I don't think you'll want him crossed."

"Not afraid of any beasty teacher, I would handle him just fine!" To that Peeves cackled again and shot out of sight, pelting the startled first years with the Permanent Stick-Up Crayons and left.

Reginald sighed. "Well, he'll have the shock of his life. Good thing Professor Dumbledore hired a Kiephrael..."

"?" Asato blinked.

He didn't have enough time to think what that new term meant for they already arrived right in front of a large portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"OK everybody, the password to the Gryffindor Tower is the lock AND key of this very dormitory; I want you all to remember it, and as it is quite ill yet to let anybody outside Gryffindor know about the password...please be reminded that this password would remain to be ALL SECRET at all times," Reginald told them. He looked at the portrait. "Stellar scalar skin scones."

The portrait swung forward, and they all clambered through the round hole and emerged in the Gryffindor common room, which was filled with lots of comfortable, squishy armchairs gathered around the blazing fireplace. 

"The girls' dormitories to the left, the boys' dormitories to the right," Reginald told them. "Lights out for first to second years would be 8:00 sharp; anybody caught wandering in the school corridors after lights out would be dealt with accordingly. Oh, and if you're planning to go out, at least come with a friend, 2 friends, or an army, even. Lay off the Forbidden Forest, don't do magic in the corridors...what else...OH! If you want to survive Hogwarts, please be strongly reminded that DO NOT EVEN ATTEMPT to get on Argus Filch's bad side. He's a nasty old git, and he's got that skeletal cat of his, too. First years far wiser and more careful than you are now are given hell by Filch, so I say again: NEVER GET ON ARGUS FILCH'S BAD SIDE. Is that perfectly clear?"

The first years all nodded.

"If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask either me or Derek." Reginald nodded, then smiled. "Well then, everybody, goodnight. And welcome to Gryffindor." 

They all went obediently to their own dormitories.

"He DID say it's lights out at 8, right? Now why would he caution us to go out in two's, three's, or an army?" Yutaka wondered.

"Every first year has his own dark side," Hisoka said wisely. He nodded over at the door right in front of them. "We're here, look."

Asato looked at the round door in front of them. A small gold plate on which was written "FIRST YEARS" hung a good distance atop the shiny gold doorknob.

Yutaka reached out and opened it, then saw Seiichiro already unpacking his trunk at the foot of his own four poster bed.

"HEY! What on EARTH are you doing HERE?!" Yutaka called out.

"I HAPPEN to be BILLETED here." Seiichiro turned to look at the 3 of them, turning SD, his eyes devilish little slits, an ominous black aura emanating from his being. "And I'm here to save EVERY-SINGLE-KNUT. Don't THINK you could get away with IT."

Yutaka sweatdropped.

"I think I'd take my chances sleeping in a room with a Gringotts goblin than with that FREAK." He hung his head down low, several spirit orbs floating about his head. "This is going to BE an absolute NIGHTMARE..."

Asato turned chibi puppy and blinked, while Hisoka sighed.

"I guess there's no way out of this, Yutaka." He looked over at him. "Wall-side or window-side?"

Asato soon knew why it was safe to come with a friend, or two, or three, or even a whole army. 

It was SO easy to get lost at his new school, and to top it all off, he was getting nausea from all the translating that goes right through his head, from Number Nine's Translate-A-Scribe stone.

Several Gryffindors he had met along the way had been kind enough to point him towards the right direction, and Asato was short of hysterics every time he tried asking questions in simple English (Yutaka was kind enough to lend him an English-Japanese dictionary). And to top off his horror of horrors, Kazutaka seemed to have memorized every single detail of his real-time foray into the unknown.

Asato tried avoiding him, but he seemed to pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts floating around Hogwarts; it was even worse than having a stalker trailing you. Kazutaka's seemingly innocent greeting ("Alright, Tsuzuki-san?") was enough to send shivers up and down his spine, and Hisoka, who was with him most of the time now that he knew Kazutaka was stalking him, was short of throwing his entire bag at the odd boy every time they met in the corridors.

Aside from trying to avoid Kazutaka every time he would walk down the corridor unattended, Asato knew that learning magic is going to be as hard as trying to learn English on his own (Yutaka and Hisoka had been quite helpful, but he still sneaks in a random English lesson every night before he goes to sleep while Seiichiro recites his "Evils Of The Wasted Knut One Time Too Many" in that annoying monotone). The classes were interesting, and since he was the only one who was still not that yet that adept in speaking, reading, and understanding English, his teachers were kind enough to lend him some notes, and Hisoka and Yutaka helped him with translating and learning English at the same time.

He soon started to get over his random fits of hysteria (happens every time he sees Kazutaka walking down the hallway towards him) and started learning. They were to study the night skies through their telescopes every single night, and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. At this, Wakaba was quite adept; she was an apprentice shrine maiden or _miko_ back at Japan, and she had been studying the heavens as their shrine's next in line until this offer came from Hogwarts itself.

They had to go to the greenhouses 3 times a week to study Herbology, a study of different magical plants and fungi, and learn what they were used for. This class was taught by quite a forgetful wizard named Professor Neville Longbottom, who spent an entire class hour looking for his glasses, which Eilie Finnigan pointed out, was sitting on top of his head. Then he went into a long speech about the uses of the Faerie Plant, when they were actually about to study the many different uses of the Tweaking Tweakbush. Suffice it to say, Professor Longbottom realized it too late for the bell now rang for their next class.

The MOST BORING CLASS ever, even after 20 years, was the History of Magic. It was also the most curious class because it was the only class taught by a ghost. Professor Binns was still as soporific as ever; now with those many names and events and great schisms that happened the last 20 years, it has become even more boring. It was so boring Asato didn't realize he had already fallen asleep until Hisoka poked him with his quill, and the entire class was looking at him.

"What happened?" Asato asked as they all filed out of the classroom.

"You were delivering a monologue," Hisoka answered him.

Asato didn't try to ask what it was after that.

Professor MacGonagall taught Transfiguration, the study of changing something into something else, and Yutaka was hoping she'd teach them how to change a human being into a beanie cushion right away so that he could practice on Seiichiro. She was quite a formidable teacher, and warned them severely that if she finds any of her students slacking off, they'll be sent back to the Muggle world via Hogwarts Express and never come back.

Professor Delia Marberry was the Charms teacher, the study of a variety of charms ranging from harmless to devastating (the most popular charm among teenage wizards and witches nowadays was the Clear Face Charm; done incorrectly it could sprout an entire herd of buffaloes traipsing down your nose, or could even wipe your entire face structure into oblivion). Potions was done by quite a very irritable greasy-haired middle-aged man named Professor Snape who seemed to enjoy nicking points off Gryffindor by all things trivial just for the fun of it. Asato was traumatized after that particular first class because Kazutaka was actually sitting right next to him, and he didn't want to experience anything like that again. He didn't eat dinner that night, and forgot to have breakfast the morning after.

Defense Against the Dark Arts proved to be hell for Asato, as he didn't have breakfast then, he was bombarded by a million nauseating sensations as all sorts of scents from girls' perfumes mingled into one malodorous mass right inside the stuffy little classroom.

"I really think I should take you to the hospital wing, Asato," Yutaka told him. "You look a little green."

"I'm...fine." Asato's eyes turned to little spirals. "Why have they decided to put perfume so heavily this DAY?"

"The Professor in question is way CUTE," Hajime muttered ominously. He pouted. "Why do I have to be stuck in a roomful of GIRLS?!"

Grein entered a little while later, smiling at them angelically (think: a super-duper gentle version of Rayearth OVA's Guru Clef version...with a dash of that irresistible Fujitaka-sensei CHARM~~~~!!! ****^o^**** Now is he gorgeous or is he GORGEOUS~~~?! ******DROOL******). Several girls sighed.

"Good morning to you all. This is..." Grein looked at the slip of paper he held in his hand, his short silver hair falling gloriously over his beautiful, startling ice blue eyes. "...Gryffindor?"

They all nodded.

The class went on smoothly (punctuated by dreamy sighs and swoons every now and then from some of the Gryffindor female populace; for some strange reason, only one of them wasn't affected), and at the end of that class, Grein went over to where Asato was then handed him a small parchment.

"My Uncle Albus relayed to me that High Priest Konoe wishes you to learn English," he said. "Would 2:00 Saturday afternoon next week be fine for you? If there was any other way I could teach you soon...but...the Council had been very insistent..."

"That'll be fine, Silverbough-san," Asato replied. 

"Alright, Asato?"

"Yes, Silverbough-san."

"Oh, alright." Grein nodded. "See you Saturday next week, Asato."

That first week passed in a blur; then came the second week, where things started to heat up between Kazutaka and Asato.

They were having their first flying lessons with the Slytherins, and it was enough to raise a groan from each and every single one of them.

"If they stop hitting me, I'll eat a broomstick," Hajime said gloomily. "They still haven't let up regarding my Shikigami..."

They arrived at the sweeping smooth flat lawn somewhere on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance, punctuated by shrill cries that boomed out of it every now and then.

Harry Potter stood waiting for them, a rueful smile on his face. There were neat lines of 20 broomsticks on each side, and the Slytherins were already there, whispering among themselves then stopping abruptly as Professor Potter spoke up.

"Good day, everyone," he greeted them. "Nice day for flying, isn't it? Winds not that willful...visibility A-OK for Quidditch conditions...well, why don't you all stand beside your respective broomstick and we'll all begin?"

Each of them hurried towards his own broom, and Asato looked at his own. It looked very old, and if he wasn't careful, he'll lose what's left of the thin twigs left hanging on the end if he would just bend over and pick it up, much less fly above the ground a couple of inches. Asato wondered wildly if he could manage to fly a flying stick instead.

"Alright, stick your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'" Professor Potter called up front.

"UP!" every single one of them shouted.

Asato's broom jumped into his hand at once before he could reach the end of the word he just uttered; it was one of the very few that did. Yutaka's broom started doing cartwheels all over the place, Hisoka's had twitched jerkily, Seiichiro's didn't move, while Hajime's shot up and struck him very hard to his face that sent him reeling back from the many stars he could see right in front of his eyes.

He fell over and promptly passed out amidst hysterical laughter of the Slytherins (silenced with a look from their teacher); Wakaba stuck an _o-fuda_ on him before Eilie Finnigan could just lean over and tried pulling him up to his feet. 

"Even professional Quidditch players get grievously injured just because they forgot a few simple rules in mounting safety," Professor Potter explained, as he started moving down the ranks of each still struggling student left. "Just hold your brooms like so, and you'll save yourself a trip to Madame Pomfrey's ward. Broomsticks can sense your fear, like horses...it's for the best that you show them who's in control, and that you are not afraid. Remember, you use the broom, not let the broom use YOU. Odd, but true." He looked around. "Any student here who's afraid of heights? Flying?"

There was silence.

"Well...it's quite normal to be afraid of flying and heights, so don't be shy. Remember that not all wizards or witches are comfortable up in the air with those pigeons flying them close by. It could save you a LOT of Skele-Gro later. None...? OK." 

Professor Potter demonstrated them how to correctly mount a broom without sliding off, and the proper grip for safety and stability. He recited broom do's and don'ts, demonstrated a proper kick-off, then stood back and watched his students go through their paces and carefully made notes on their flying forms, and offered some helpful advice.

Soon, they were zooming all over the place. Professor Potter warned them about getting too close to the Forbidden Forest. It was then when Kazutaka decided to give him chase. 

Asato was just minding his own business flying smoothly over a bunch of his other classmates when Kazutaka snuck up behind him and smiled sweetly. "Alright, Tsuzuki-san?"

The effects were instantaneous. Asato zoomed off without another word, his broom sensing his hysteria, and Kazutaka made it even worse by zooming after him.

"Hey, wait up for me, Tsuzuki-san! Why are you avoiding me? I've been trying to find you last week, and you didn't show up when my Sneaky Stalk-Sneaks told me otherwise!" Kazutaka called after him. 

"Why don't you stalk OTHER people, for that MATTER?! Why do you HAVE to stalk after ME~~~?!" SD Asato cries out, dodging Kyle Bowman who was seriously doing a broomstick pirouette, with Jason Portman trailing behind him.

"I just have to, Tsuzuki-san," Kazutaka said simply, smiling again. "If I hadn't known you'll be going here, then I would have no other reason in going to Hogwarts. Father was really thinking of sending me to Durmstrang, instead."

At this, Asato became even more hysterical. Quick as a lightning bolt, he shot his way towards the Forbidden Forest's airspace (^^;;). Professor Potter was aghast.

"TSUZUKI~~~!!! What do you think you're doing?! Don't head over that WAY~~~!!!" he calls out, grabbing his broom to go after him.

"Don't worry, Professor, I'm right behind him!" Kazutaka calls to him, then went off after Asato.

"MURAKI! Oh...darn it!" Professor Potter shot off after them. Several students went back to the ground, and huddled together, their voices strained with fright.

"That's where those giants were supposed to have taken refuge!" Gregory Northridge said, looking fearfully over at where Asato, Kazutaka, and Professor Potter had gone to.

"I thought they were all rounded up in Timbuktu?" Harriet Hart asked, blinking.

"No, they were sent to exile somewhere in the Transylvanian Alps," Darwin Weasley said with a small little nod. "Mum said so. She said it was just so awful leaving them right in the middle of nowhere, but...if they were allowed to roam around in a Muggle-inhabited area, I shudder to think what could REALLY happen." 

"Well, YES, but my dad said there are lots of Dark creatures roaming around in there...ever since the centaurs had retreated back to their homeland further west, the Forbidden Forest has become even more forbidding," Jason Portman whispered. "The unicorns were fast disappearing at a very alarming rate; Dumbledore had put them into a forest reserve somewhere up Hogsmeade to save what's left of them. I hear his nephew was the one assigned to look after them, along with the other poor, innocent magical creatures being slaughtered by those evil fiends. Hagrid's here to prevent any of those things come up to Hogwarts Castle for a cup of tea."

"Figures, Dumbledore's nephew's Elven," Kyle Bowman put in. "Elves are known to be staunch guardians of Nature. They also serve as Nature's magical gardeners and veterinarians."

"Are they, really?" Eilie Finnigan asked with interest.

"The only elves I know of are house elves, and they keep pretty much to themselves," Frederick Seton told them. "And I thought they were only legend?"

As the other students debated about Grein's possible Elven heritage, Asato, meanwhile, was almost at the Forbidden Forest. Kazutaka was calling out to him, although Asato could safely say that his voice sounded a little too ecstatic for his taste. 

"Tsuzuki-san! Come back!"

"NO~~~!!!" Asato called out, looking over his shoulder. "I'd rather take my chances being taken pot shots at by wandering trolls than come back with YOU~~~!!! Stop chasing ME~~~"

It happened so fast, Asato didn't have time to react. There was a deafening crash, and Asato only had enough time to look up front to see a very huge skeletal zombie standing right in front of him, roaring, then reached out to swipe Asato with his very sharp-nailed bony fingers.

Several students watching them screamed.

Asato managed to dodge the swipe with very quick reflexes, but another swipe was sent towards his way. He could only remember wishing somebody would help him, before a flurry of glowing, fiery red feathers swirled on about him and blackness drew him in and he knew no more. 

"..." Asato opened his eyes slowly, everything coming into slow focus. He saw shadowy shapes floating in front of his eyes, along with several whispers, then he felt somebody sit down somewhere beside him, and that's when his eyesight slowly cleared.

"Asato! Thank goodness you're AWAKE~~~!!!"

He blinked. He saw the face of Yutaka peering down at him anxiously, his corn yellow eyes very concerned.

"Where am I...?" Asato asked weakly.

"Hospital ward. You gave Professor Potter one heck of a nasty surprise when your Shikigami burst into flames protecting you. High Priest Konoe said it would happen real SOON, but I bet he'd be falling of his dais of an office table once he hears from Number Nine that you've awakened them already." Yutaka was now looking at him with awe. "You were really good in sending that _lich_ off to limbo, Asato. I've never seen anything quite like it."

"?"

Yutaka nodded, then gestured to his bedside table. It looked as if the whole candy shop had suddenly sprouted beside him. "Gifts and tokens from your admirers. They were really surprised when that thing nearly killed you and you survived...and it's the talk of the whole school. But then...there are still others who see you, and US, as freaks, in the general matter of things. A Slytherin started campaigning for throwing us all out after that fiery fiasco by 1,000 signatures...Professor Dumbledore quickly noticed that the Slytherin in question used Self-Signing Ink...suffice it to say, Professor Dumbledore put his foot down and allowed us to stay."

"OK..."

There were whispers again, and Yutaka looked over his shoulder to see who it was who arrived. His eyes became wide. "I don't believe THIS..."

"What?"

Grein appeared a few seconds later, holding something that suspiciously looked like another candy shop ready to sprout anew. He smiled at him. "Are you feeling fine now, Asato?"

"Y-yes, Silverbough-san..." Asato was surprised. "Uh...why are you..."

"Well, in the light of things, concerning your Shikigami awakening...Mr. Potter informed me as soonest, as soon as he had you taken here 5 days ago. We were really worried that you won't be waking up again...but Makoto had been through this same kind of thing, and Madame Pomfrey told him then that he used the hospital ward so much he ought to pay rent."

"5...days..." 

"Your roommates had agreed to take down all your assignments for you, for you needed lots of bed rest," Grein replied again. "It's thoroughly draining the first time around, but you'll get used to it, sometime soon. Meanwhile, you rest easy...I'll come fetch you later tonight. It's concerning the Arcane classes."

Asato nodded slightly.

"Oh, before I forget..." Grein looked behind him. "Miss Falcrest?"

"..." Elene Falcrest appeared from behind Grein looking at them shyly. She was also holding something that suspiciously looked like another candy shop in the making.

Yutaka blinked. "Uh..."

"Elene Falcrest would be joining our classes at the Arcane," Grein told them. "She's really talented, and I hope you would all get together very well. And..." He looks over at Asato. "She's going to be your classmate at your English class, too. The only different thing is, I'll be teaching her Japanese, while you learn English."

Asato stared at her.

Elene blushed, then held her package closer. 

"Well? I'll see you tonight." Grein put his package down on the floor, seeing that there was no available space on the bedside table. Elene put hers down, as well. 

Grein nodded over at Yutaka. "Look after him."

"Yes, Silverbough-sensei."

The 2 of them left, Grein talking to Elene in soft, muted tones. Asato stared after them.

"WOW! She got you a REBUS TAROT STARTER SET and a Rheingeld ARENA~~~!!!" Yutaka's eyes turned wobbly. "She must REALLY like you, man."

"Hey~~~!!! What's the big IDEA~~~"

"But Elene Falcrest...Arcane?! I wonder how could she be so freakishly gifted, like any of us..." Yutaka mused. He tossed Asato a bag of Chocolate Frogs. "Better start eating sugar, mate. It's still a long way off to recovery."

"Where's..."

"Seiichiro's pestering Hajime, Wakaba's off baking a cake for you somewhere, and Hisoka's chasing after Kazutaka...don't worry, that odd little bastard won't get away from what he's done to you. Besides, your Shikigami burnt him up real GOOD." Yutaka grinned. "Double chocolate or mint, Tsuzuki?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** ............................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................................................******GRIN******

How's THAT for a chase SCENE?! Damn, Muraki could sometimes BE a little too aggressive. I don't think you'd want to see them chase each other around the Quidditch field for that matter. Oh WELL. Stay tuned for that CHAPPIE~~~!!! 


	7. Where the Elves Are

Where The Elves Are...(Well...Sort Of...^^;;)

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** It's been quite a while since I've uploaded here last, gomen to all readers out there. Asato meets his Chibi -Shikigami-, the truth about Elene's mysterious appointment into the Arcane, Tatsumi's -Shadow- powers, Hisoka's psychic attributes, Watari's Clow Cards (OO;;),Wakaba's _miko_ prowess, Terazuma's terrible _oni_ curse, Kazutaka's -Dark Shikigami-, Oriya's -Spirit- swordskill, and...Grein singing _Elbereth Gilthoniel_....?! OO;; What is this world coming TO?! Oh well. R/R PLEASE~~~!!! 

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Yami No Matsuei, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings. They are owned by Youko Matsushita, J.K. Rowling, and J.R.R. Tolkien, respectively. So no SUING~~~!!! 

Asato was pulling on his socks in the hospital ward later that evening when the doors to it opened and he looked up. He sees Grein talking to Madame Pomfrey, with a still shy Elene Falcrest at his side. Grein came up to his bed a few minutes later.

"Feeling OK, Asato?" Grein greeted him.

Asato nodded. 

Yutaka was still staring at Elene, who retreated further behind Grein's back. "Is she really going to be our Arcane classmate, Silverbough-sensei?"

"Yes, Watari-kun. I do hope you'll all get together well." Grein nodded. "The rest of the class is already waiting for us in the Transfiguration classroom. Everything all packed...?"

"Yes, Silverbough-san," Asato replied.

"Good." Grein took out his wand and waved it over at Asato's still unfinished candy shop and Elene's still untouched gift (^^;;). "_Sentire Portalis_."

The unfinished candy shop and Elene's still untouched gift popped off into thin air.

Asato was wide-eyed. "Hey...where had it all gone TO?!"

"I've sent it to your room, don't worry," Grein told him as he put his wand inside his robes again. He nodded at the 2 of them. "Well, shall we?"

"..." Yutaka and Asato both nodded.

Then, saying goodbye to Madame Pomfrey, the 4 of them left the hospital ward and went down the vast corridors leading down the hallway. 

Elene was very quiet as she walked behind Grein, her head bowed down low. Yutaka nudged Asato, who was staring at Elene's back right in front of him.

"Eh?"

"Hey, Asato...do you think it strange that she's Arcane, just like any of us...? I thought Asia's the only region in the entire planet that's classified as being totally Rune-Grade..."

"Excuse me...?"

"Rune-Grade...you know, being accorded with several mysticisms and being so wonderfully gifted at that. Africa, some parts of Southern America, and some parts of Europe and the United States are just quite a handful of Rune-Grade places they could possibly delve into...but then again, the times are so modern right now, the people think that these handful of Rune-Grade sites are just so totally...old-fashioned and outdated. These beliefs...voodoo, shamanism, the belief in nature and in spirits, mostly...the people of the modern times call it taboo, and most wizards think it grossly aligned with the Dark wizarding world, when in truth, it's not." Yutaka frowned. "See how the other students reacted when we first arrived here at Hogwarts for the Sorting...? They thought us a bunch of mini Dark wizards out to topple the foundations of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry because of our innate abilities. To them, it's abnormal to have these gifts. It's like we're thrown back into the Middle Ages again."

"So...that was why they were all acting funny." Asato looked at Yutaka. "But we're not bad, or Dark wizards, for that matter..."

"Exactly. That's what's Professor Dumbledore's been trying to say these past 15 years." Yutaka's eyes became sad. "Sadly, the Muggles and the other wizards don't think that way, because in their eyes, we're demon spawn. All thanks to those Death Eaters."

"..." Asato blinked. "Yutaka...you mean to say that... even though the people in this palace could cast magic..."

"Oh, we're VERY rare. Wizards casting magic is one thing, but wizards with OTHER talents beside casting spells is another. As with the rest of our other classmates at the Arcane...we each come with 'gifts' uniquely our own. That's why...not all wizards welcome the idea of starting this Arcane class. It's as if we're to start a Dark wizard army or something like it."

"But...that's unfair!"

"Yeah, try telling them THAT. It took several years for the entire wizarding community to accept this idea...15 years, to be exact. I mean...5 years that we were having peace, we don't need any of these classes in order to be able to survive."

"I see..."

Soon, they were standing right outside the doors to the Transfiguration classroom. Asato's eyes were thin little slits. "I just remembered, I have a whole week's worth of homework to look forward to after this session..."

"Eh, you can do it!" SD Yutaka was grinning. "And don't worry, Bon and I are to hit the study tables too after this, so you won't feel too left out."

"Yeah, thanks." Asato couldn't help grinning back.

Grein opened the doors to the Transfiguration classroom, and everybody quieted down at once. The 4 of them went in without another word.

"Good evening, class."

"Good evening, Professor Silverbough."

"Alright. I trust you're all in?" Grein went towards the teacher's table and put down his leather bag (the kind the Japanese junior high school students use) on it. Grein smiled at Asato, Yutaka and Elene. "Well, children, please take your seats. We have a lot to discuss for this very first session alone."

Asato, Yutaka, and Elene went forward to take their respective seats in the classroom. Asato and Yutaka sat together, while Hisoka blinked and made room for Elene.

"Yes. Perfect." Grein opened his bag and got out a series of thick books inside his bag. "Well, before anything else, Ms. Falcrest would be your classmate here in the Arcane, for this session and the rest of other sessions thereafter. The inclusion of this Arcane class with your workload as Hogwarts first years for now might be a little too daunting, but otherwise still manageable; you really don't need to worry too much, these classes are devoted to awakening your capabilities as being Chosen, and for understanding its many strong points, as well as its many limitations. More focused work would continue into your second to your fourth years...these would be devoted to the mastery of your abilities, and from fifth to seventh years...that would be devoted to your specialization."

"Errh..." Asato blinked. "Specialization...Silverbough-san?"

"Yes, Mr. Tsuzuki, specialization. You could choose to become a rogue Chosen or get into the Council of High Wizardry as the first Chosen team, to work closely with the Aurors. The possibilities are endless." Grein then extracted a sheaf of parchment from his bag. "OK, before we start...I'll begin with a roll call. Please just raise your hand once I call out your name." Grein clears his throat. "Excuse me. Well then...first up. Falcrest, Elene?"

Grein put the sheaf of parchment inside his bag, closed it, then looked at each and every one of them a little while later. "Good, now that's over, we would begin with the formal introductions of this special class. Could somebody please tell me what the word Arcane stands for...?"

Hisoka raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Kurosaki?"

"Arcane, from the Latin word _arcanus_, meaning secret or hidden," Hisoka replied.

"Very good." Grein nodded. "Arcane, secret, hidden. Hidden secrets, mysteries...whatever meaning you choose, it still means the same. Hidden. Cloaked. Veiled." Grein opened the first thick book on the top of his desk. "It is the only way we could describe what we are to study here tonight. Any idea why?" 

Elene raised her hand timidly. 

"Yes, Ms. Falcrest?" 

"It is because...what we are to study here has been...kept hidden in secret for hundreds of years," Elene answered. "This...knowledge...when put into the wrong hands, could spell great disaster to the whole wizarding kind. And, because of other wizards branding this kind of knowledge as taboo, nobody has been really known to practice this in full view of the high wizarding authorities without proper sanctions from them for doing it like so. They believe...that this kind of knowledge has a lot to do with the Dark wizarding kind." 

"Very good." Grein nodded. "Hidden in secrecy for hundreds of years, this branch of ancient magic has been sealed to those who are deemed unworthy of even possessing this knowledge...as, the saying goes, with great power comes even greater responsibility. Imagine aetheria being spread amuck, with no people around present to be able to fully handle it. Everybody who knows these kinds of things should take proper caution as not to let it go out of hand. If everybody could do something like THIS, or could practice this kind of knowledge without proper training and discipline, I could imagine complete bedlam. It's like dropping a still lit match onto a dry patch of grass, and it would spread like mad, reducing an entire forest to ashes. It's like that, in a way. Handling something that's too much for you to handle would only get you burned in the process." 

He then got his wand, then waved it at the blackboard. "Hidden for hundreds of years...the practitioners of this almost lost kind of art have kept this knowledge to them, only passing it to those who were deemed worthy of even possessing such power. But in order to even BECOME worthy enough of wielding such unimaginable power, one must know the great many things possible that could lead to either harm or good. It is by knowing one's limitations could one only be truly powerful." 

Grein's beautiful handwritten script appeared on the blackboard. 

"As with other branches of magic, aetheria has a long background to it, and it has survived through the worst times, and also thrived through the best of times. True aetheria stemmed from what you could possibly term as true blue magicians of old...the Enchantress Circe, the daughter of the Goddess of Magic herself, Hecate...the oracles of Apollo...the shamans of the North American Indians...and, to be close, there's old reliable Merlin, King Arthur's magician par excellence. Now what do these magicians have in common...?" 

"They...have their own unique gifts...?" Yutaka ventured. 

"Precisely." Grein gestured to the blackboard, on which was written a paragraph. "The Enchantress Circe was particularly gifted in transfiguration, the oracles of Apollo were gifted with the Inner Eye or what we call precognition and communicate with the ancient gods living in Mt. Olympus, shamans have the gift to be able to communicate with the spirits living in all things, while Merlin...well, he could do ALMOST everything, building that Round Table, moving those stones from Ireland...and the list goes on and on. It is for these powers that they were both revered and shunned. Ancient times have treated what they were really good at as works of the Devil, for it is considered abnormal for even mortals to possess such powers, and they honestly believed that these powers came from the Devil himself. Such blindness led into those infamous witch hunts in the Middle Ages, and in so doing, several innocent people were instigated and persecuted...for a time the Muggles were so scared of the real wizarding kind that they treated everything that was out of the ordinary as a cause for rumor, and eventual persecution." 

He pointed with his wand at the blackboard.

"There's magic, and there's true magic. Magic involves the use of spells, for the conferring of charms, hexes, curses, brewing of potions, and the like. And there's true magic. It is what we are all gathered here tonight for. This is what I am going to teach you." Grein nodded. "Hogwarts could only teach you so much by means of magic. But true magic, which I am going to teach you, is way beyond any book that claims full authority over it. As it is a very obscure branch of magic, with the way of Divination...people gifted with these unique capabilities are VERY rare indeed, and true accounts or whatsoever are even rarer, for the Council of High Magic has barred its existence in the very wizarding world we all live in. For a good cause, for this branch of magic is very dangerous." He waved his wand again. "True magic, aetheria. What does it mean...? As you recall in your past lessons, the ancients thought of aether as this imaginary substance as filling all space beyond the sphere of the moon, and making up the stars and the planets. But in our studies, we would identify aetheria as the boundless energy that fills everything, everyone, waiting to be tapped, waiting to be called forth. The spirits that live in each and every one of us, of those that surround us...the very air we breathe, the trees that grow tall and shade us from the sun by means of their leafy branches, the water that surrounds us, the fire that keeps us warm, the earth which we trod upon for support and nourishment for this is where all our plants lay in wait before being called forth by Spring. Aetheria is nature, the connection we have to the planet, the connection the planet has to us."

Grein started pacing about his desk.

"For aetheria, the living soul of all things...the material world is divided into 5 elements: Air, Water, Fire, Wood, Earth, in the matter of some Eastern-style mysticism; in some aspects only Air, Water, Fire, Earth; and in Chinese mysticism, there's Air, Water, Fire, Wood, Earth, Metal...the list goes on and on, but all in all, these many essences constitute one whole picture. One could control these elements to their bidding, but in order to use the full effects of these elements, one must be totally disciplined and should take great precaution in using them. For using aetheria means 'borrowing' these powers for a controlled amount of time, and, left unchecked, could very well mean chaos in spite of your noble ideals. Controlling the forces of nature is a very daunting task, and it is why aetheria was limited to only a few people who could use and control it very effectively. In channeling your aether force...it is most wise that we are not to use wands in this course...rather, the use of rods or staves are more efficient, for only they could harness the full potential of your aether force without shattering, as wands could undoubtedly do so, in some surges of aether force that would be much too powerful for it to handle. You MUST remember that we are 'borrowing' nature's powers, and I can safely say that wands could only do so much in borrowing a little of its power in order for it not to shatter."

"'Aether force' means the set energies that you were all born with. Greater aether force means greater power, but that doesn't mean those with aether force which are lesser couldn't defeat someone with a greater aether force than he has. It's all in the matter of training and disciplining oneself and knowing one's strong points and limitations could he truly surpass all aether expectations. One is born with that given amount of aether force, though, and in that point, one could not really heighten it to one's liking. Too much power borne by one soul would prove to be so great a burden on that unfortunate soul...for being too powerful would make people very afraid of who you are."

Grein waved his wand at the blackboard again.

"Knowledge of each specialized aetheria is passed down from generation to generation within families with such known talent. Generations come and go, and this knowledge isn't lost...although, in some very rare cases, aetheria channeling skips 2, 3, even 5 generations, in order to be born in an heir or heiress with even more frightening capabilities, as heightened by the generation 'gap'. In order to preserve their aetheria, clans marry within the confines of their familial circles as not to have their given aetheria diminish in power. Cousins and cousins, aunts, uncles...incestuous they may seem, but it's the only way to preserve their heritage, in their opinions. Even if there are SO many specializations out there, aetheria could only be separated into 2 divisions, under which your specific gift could be listed under. These are the Light and Dark Aetheria."

Grein's beautiful handwritten script was skating across the other blackboard again. "Light Aetheria is used mostly for healing and support type of Aetheria. They include Earth, Water, Air, Wood spells, summoning. Also included in Light Aetheria are the Forbidden Aetheria: Life, and Light, the highest of the order. Dark Aetheria, on the other hand, is used mostly for combative purposes, and deals various 'ailments' on the offender in question. They include Fire and Metal spells, necromancy. Also included in Dark Aetheria are the Forbidden Aetheria: Death, and Shadow, the highest of the order."

Grein looked over at his students again. "Forbidden Aetheria were so called because their powers are really frightening, to say the least...to have control over Life and Death, the Light and the Shadow...only a handful of people know about this, and it's safer that way. Included in the list of Forbidden Aetheria are Lightning, Tone, Ice, Gravity, Poison...they are 'mutations', so to speak, of spells between Light and Dark, and to harness such abilities, one must be very powerful, indeed."

Yutaka raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Watari?"

"Um...Professor Silverbough, how do we know if...well, for example..." He gestured towards Hisoka. "He possesses psionic powers...is he of the Light or the Dark Aetheria...?"

"It is a choice of what he would prefer. If he uses it for helping people, he is of the Light...for hurting people...he is of the Dark. But there are some cases in which one could help and leads to more disaster, and one hurts and leads to doing kindness towards another. But all he has to think of for the moment is how his actions would benefit and harm those people surrounding him...as with the rest of us all here." Grein nodded. "Any more questions?"

"Um..." Wakaba raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Kannuki?"

"So Hajime-chan...he's..."

"Well, it's a matter of which he prefers. As he's in his 'untapped' form and doesn't know what he's doing at the moment, he's not bad. But if one should be aware of what he's doing, and that means hurting people...he has a lot of serious issues, and he may be bad."

Seiichiro raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Tatsumi?"

"Does that mean if we could do nasty things, but we're born with it...does that mean we're bad?"

Grein sighed. "As to that, I could only say this. As I've said earlier that there is not one book in this world who could fully explain aetheria and its many intricate connections with each other and each and every one of us, one must not limit himself to the context of separating Light from Dark. They were separated so that we could learn it easier enough, but in reality, one could say that the Light is in some ways like the Dark, and vice versa. The books could only do so much in explaining what the difference is among each and every one of them, and that is all. To be branded as evil or dark because of these powers, whether good or thoroughly evil...it's always been the same sweeping generalization, and my Uncle Albus wants to change all that. It's not what we can do that would make us either evil or bad...it's what our intentions ARE during that course of action that says who we truly are. But some people are only understanding us so much without fully understanding what drove us in order to do that...and the cycle goes on and on again, without any chance for respite, until all gets muddled and in the end, we truly defeat ourselves." 

The whole class was quiet. 

Grein looked around the room. "Well? Any more questions...? None...? So, let's proceed." He nodded at each and every one of them. "In order to get the feel of aetheria, we need a little trip outdoors. I'll be giving you quite a visual show of what aetheria is all about...so, all you need is your cloaks, your staves...and we'll be off. Once we're outside though, don't stray too far off from me. It's nighttime, and we should all practice caution in going outdoors at this time of night." 

"I lugged your stuff from the dormitory," Hisoka told Asato as they all went to retrieve their stuff from the Vanishing Lockers at one end of the room. "I think you owe me a new back for this." 

"Forget a new back, you ought to demand a full body payment, so to speak." Yutaka grinned. "Last one out's a rotten EGG~~~!!!" 

It was quite unnerving, to say the least: Hogwarts certainly looked kind of menacing in the nighttime than it did in daytime. Grein exchanged a few pleasantries with the roving ghosts on patrol, and had a run-in with Argus Filch, who was giving Hajime a real terrifying death glare that almost sent him running for the hills. 

"Must be remembering that sweet run-in you had when you turned into that _oni_, Hajime," Yutaka said with a laugh. 

"Shut up, Yutaka, it's bad enough being tailed by HIM wherever I go," Hajime shot back. 

They soon emerged in the peaceful little settlement of Hogsmeade. It was quite different in the nighttime, as the shops that mattered to the Hogwarts students were closed for the night, and the only signs of life came from the many taverns that had sprung up around the place, filled with lots of people. They could hear the raucous singing and laughter from quite a long way off. 

"The most famous taverns here include The Three Broomsticks for their very famous butterbeer, and the one quite popular with the seedy crowd has got to be Hog's Head," Grein told them as they went up a hilly climb that had several open taverns along it. "Unfortunately, it's not until you reach third year would you be finally allowed to step in Hogsmeade with the rest of your classmates." 

"Why? We're not to go around amuck with just a few bottles of butterbeer, right?" Yutaka said. "Besides, _sake_'s got THE kicker." 

"School rules, and I have the right mind to say that it's quite a useful rule, to boot. Mr. Filch reckons that it delays the evils of being growing adolescents. The key word is 'delays'." Grein blinked. "Oh, we're almost there! Do watch out for hidden rabbit holes." 

They were going up a steadily rising hill, and Grein was just starting on that sentence when Hajime fell into a rabbit hole. Yutaka and Asato fought back snorts of laughter as they helped him out of it, to which the dark blue haired boy gave them a look that was a cross between irritation and bursting into tears. 

"What were YOU ogling at, anyway, Hajime? The path's like a mile wide in front of you," Yutaka gasped.

"He was staring at Wakaba." Asato burst into a fit of hysterical giggles. "Don't worry, she's in no danger from either of us. You have to keep watch over Seiichiro, though...I think he's just getting a little too close for comfort."

"Shut UP~~~!!!" Hajime yelps, his face a bright shade of red.

"Oh look everyone, we're here." Grein nodded. "Please make yourselves at home."

Elene's deep brown eyes became wide. "WOW!"

"Wow" was an understatement. Seeming to sprout right out of the hill in front of them was the most magnificent house they had ever seen in their entire lives. It was built of a silvery kind of wood, and it blended so perfectly into the backdrop of the trees that grew behind it it was impossible to tell it was a house, save for a pair of glowing lamps up front. Even in the dim glow of the full moon that hung over them in the night sky, Asato could see that the front lawn of the house was planted with lots of flowers in strange shapes and sizes, and there were tiny floating multicolored spheres of light hovering over them. Grein then reached out and pushed the silver-wrought gates open, to which the tiny floating multicolored spheres of light scattered about the many flowering bushes.

Hisoka went over and stared at one of the glowing lamps up front very intently, to which he discovered that they were lit by tiny Faeries that looked like many bits of fluff. Wakaba stared at the ground, where she found out that all of them were stepping on a very colorful cobble-stoned path, and the effect was like they were all transported to the wonderful land of Oz, except that it was the Rainbow Brick Road. Yutaka peered at the many curious plants that grew about them in abundance, his mouth a tiny O as he looked at them with wide eyes. Seiichiro was looking around for any evil waste of a Knut, and seeing there was none, proceeded to investigating a contraption made of crystalline glass that stood by the porch leading straight to the house itself. Asato was busy looking at the tiny floating multicolored spheres of light, while Kazutaka and Mibu Oriya were whispering to each other a few feet away and threw glances at Asato every now and then. As for Elene, she blinked then made her way towards the many shrubs where Asato was staring at, then held out her right hand. Several of the tiny floating multicolored spheres of light floated towards her hand, and Asato straightened up to gaze at them, mystified.

"How...how did you do that?" Asato asked.

"..." Elene blinked, then turned to look at him. She smiled shyly with her eyes closed. "I don't know. They just...come."

"Wow..."

"Our practical lesson would be out back." Grein looked at the boys, who were still busy checking out the place. "Do try to keep close to me, though, the unicorns are out prancing tonight, and you do know how they don't prefer the company of 'evil' men." He then reached out and got the crystalline glass contraption Seiichiro was staring at a while ago and the bound tall piece of cloth (OO;;) that leaned against the doorway. "Let's go."

They went down the Rainbow Brick Road, and the children all marveled at the many trees that grew on the sides, protecting them from curious stares of any passersby that may wander down this way. They were very tall, had a silvery bark, and to Wakaba's delight, had delicate glass leaves and tiny startling white flowers that made the trees look like they were festooned with many white Christmas lights.

"_Elodil_," Grein told them. "These trees thrive in the land of my mother's kin. It's very rare to see one in full bloom somewhere beyond the shores of Essena in the Western Seas..."

"Essena...?" Asato blinked.

"Uh...what's that..." Yutaka's eyes became little beads.

"The place of the Elves as mentioned in _Nature's Guardians_, the magical land of no death and the place of eternal radiance." Kazutaka nodded knowingly. "The place where it all began. The place where aetheria is still used pretty much up to this day and age."

"But...isn't it only legend?" Wakaba asked. 

"Oh, it's very much true. These trees couldn't really thrive in Muggle land without the able help of an Elf...or Half-Elven, as in my case. My mother and I are the last ones of our kin that has remained here in the Blue Star, which we call earth." Grein nodded. "I'm related to the current headmaster of Hogwarts by means of my father, and..." He gave a goofy little grin. "Their love story is the kind of stuff what fairy tales are made of. Suffice it to say, my mother chose the life of being Bound and here I am, to save the withering remains of aetheria before it's totally lost into oblivion."

All of the children blinked. So, Grein really IS Half-Elven~~~!!!

Grein nodded. "Alright, stay together now and follow me."

They made their way down the _elodil_ planted path and soon emerged in an area which was protected at each side by a tall post of silvery wood and carved with a flowing script quite unlike anything they've ever seen before.

"Pillars dedicated to Goddess Earth. Elves are known to be very staunch protectors of the wood and vale, and they respect all living creature in nature as their highest praise to the earth from which they sprung." Grein held out the crystalline glass contraption. "I will call to the spirits of this sacred wood, in order to ask permission to borrow their powers just for tonight."

The crystalline glass contraption began to glow with a faint light. 

"_Softly as these gentle woods sleep,_

_We come hither as Earth's humble children,_

_Seeking solace in your leafy boughs_

_And learn your secrets that had chosen to remain hidden._

_As all is known to thee..._

_Unclose now and let the aetheria soar free._"

The woods in front of them seem to clear up with a mystical light. As the children watched, openmouthed, they saw several tiny floating spheres of light that flitted about the trees, which darted away if they get a little too close for comfort. They then followed Grein, who still held the crystalline glass contraption aloft, and Asato could now see that it was a lamp of some sort.

Wakaba blinked, and let out a squeal of delight as she pointed to the trees beyond the path they were taking. The children all looked up and saw a couple of full grown unicorns standing by the shadows of the trees, so startlingly and brilliantly white they were it was as if stars had suddenly fallen down from the skies to be with them this close. And as they all stopped to get a clearer look, one of the unicorns neighed, then the rest of his fellow unicorns disappeared into the safety of the shadows beyond the trees, their star-like brilliance fading like a sudden camera flash.

"Unicorns are very intelligent and can sense danger from quite a long way off," Grein told them. "They are also quite wary about humans, wizards and Muggles alike...quite understandable, for we almost hunted them down to extinction a long time ago, when the days were dark and a shadow was creeping upon the land. They've been protected by an Elder Wizarding Edict of 1345 ever since. Unicorn horns were used for a variety of uses, from panaceas to taking out poison in drink...and, unicorn blood which could save a man on the brink of death. But it comes with a price: once the blood touches their lips, they would be cursed with a half-life. It is because it is such a monstrous thing, to slay something so pure and innocent for one's own purpose; for such a terrible crime against purity, one must be punished for his greed and insolence."

"Um...do you have unicorns over at Essena?" Hisoka asked.

"They run free throughout the entire land, but they keep pretty much to themselves, really. Mother reckons that there may be more unicorns than Elves on it. Unicorns were gifts of my kin to man, as with aetheria. And...quite a few others more." Grein's ice blue eyes twinkled over at both Asato and Elene. "Well. Shall we keep on going, then?"

They went down the path, and Yutaka could see a variety of plants and animals so magical it was as if they had all strayed into Elven-home, and those tiny spheres of light that darted through shrubs, flowers and trees seemed to follow them wherever they went. Yutaka looked over at Grein. "Professor Silverbough...what are these floating spheres of light, anyway?! They've been following us ever since we entered the forest a while ago..."

"Oh, don't mind them. They're just sprites. They're really curious magical creatures, and they love trailing after Muggles. Some of them could get pretty mischievous, though. They're responsible for St. Elmo's Fire and Will o' The Wisps who could let Muggles go astray in dark far-off woods." 

"Do these trees in these woods also come from Essena?" Seiichiro asked. 

"Pretty much, Mr. Tatsumi. Uncle Albus had been most kind as to give me this piece of woodland where I could grow the trees my Mother has brought forth from her home. These trees are the only ones known to grow and bloom forth east of the Western Shores." Grein pointed. "There's _elodil_, the ones you saw a while ago, then there's _eyhrelein_, _athaelion_, _lienia_...and a couple of others more. Our most beloved tree is the _elodil_...they remind us of the stars that were always a-flower over Essena. My mother says that the _elodil_ come from the very stars themselves." 

They soon emerged in a forest clearing. The sprites which were following them were soon encircling overhead like so many fireflies. 

"Alright, spread around, gather in a circle about me," Grein told them.

They all went to their own respective places. Kazutaka tried getting himself beside Asato as much as possible, but both Yutaka and Hisoka beat him to it, which elicited a very murderous death glare from the pale silver-haired boy. After Hisoka, there was Wakaba, Hajime, Seiichiro (much to Hajime's chagrin), Elene, Mibu, and Kazutaka, who was still giving both Yutaka and Hisoka death glares.

"Every wizard or witch born into this world is unique, as much as the Muggles in the outside world. We are not different from them. We all have our own pains, joys, and problems quite like that of Muggles, and have our own personal traits and gifts. Some are especially gifted with charm work, others are particularly gifted in transfiguration, still others who are whizzes in creating potions and brews and pretty much everything else. Like them, those born into aetheria families are gifted with their own unique aether force, and are particularly suited to one type of aetheria than the others. To be all powerful in all aspects would be pretty unlikely and very farfetched...aetheria is divided among its many practitioners as much as their closeness to Goddess Earth would allow. It is by this closeness to Goddess Earth that one's aether force is determined, and what type of aether force you were all born with." Grein let go of the crystalline lamp he held, and it stayed aloft, while he reached out and got the cloth bound parcel he held in his other hand. "I will cast the Mirror of Edessa. Do not be afraid; it would only seek out the truth within your hearts and awaken what is to be tapped."

The cloth fell away, and the children all stared at it, their mouths little O's, their eyes wide. It was quite a magnificent-looking staff, made of a silver wood that seemed to glow with its inner light, bound by many fine silver chains about the top, from which a white crystal was superimposed.

Grein raised it with both his hands above his head, his ice blue eyes deadly serious.

"_Mirror of Truth, Mirror of Light,_

_Hear me then, Mistress of Arcana..._

_Reveal thy bonds to thee!_"

A slowly revolving silver-colored sigil appeared beneath Grein, and they all looked down at it. There was a lot of beautiful graceful script written about the circular design, along with a stylized rendering of a silver tree and 3 stars about its leafy crown. Rays of a 6-pointed star shot forth from about the circular design, along with many strange symbols arranged in 10 small circles about the smaller circular design within it. A soft wind started blowing about their feet, to which Wakaba and Elene held their skirts down, lest their skirts get blown away.

Grein then immediately struck the ground sigil beneath him with his staff.

"_Come forth! Unseal and stand before me! _

_**EDESSIAN REFLECT~~~!!!**_"

The silver sigil glowed even brighter, and a furious wind started about their feet. Yutaka was holding back his wavy mop of corn blond hair away from his face, staring up at the spectacle before him, his eyes wide behind his glasses. 

A woman appeared above Grein, wearing a very filmy dress made of a silvery and crystalline material. She had very long, straight jet black hair, bound with gems about her brow, shaped into moons and stars and tiny very beautiful flowers, and her long tight sleeves bound at her middle fingers by a strange light. She held a crystalline mirror in her hands, decorated in many intricate-looking swirls of silver and crystal.

The sigil beneath Grein erupted in a flurry of spectral glass shards as soon as the woman's mirror emitted a strange white light, and soon, the shards were scattered about each and everyone of them, and Hajime was beginning to panic.

"Is that...an -Eidolon-...?" Hisoka breathed.

The spectral glass shards changed in color as they started swirling about each and every single one of them. Asato blinked, as the swirling spectral glass shards became a kaleidoscope of color about him: red, blue, white, green, purple...it was as if he was trapped inside a gigantic kaleidoscope itself. Yutaka was surrounded by yellow glass shards; Hisoka, light blue; Wakaba, pink; Hajime, deep green; Seiichiro, gray; Elene, white; Mibu, violet; and Kazutaka, black. The shards swirled about them over and over again until Asato couldn't take it any longer because he might get sick and closed his eyes from the furious swirling of color. Then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped, and all of them looked very windswept, indeed.

"Oooohhh....I think I'm going to be SICK..." Yutaka moaned. 

Wakaba blinked, then clapped enthusiastically, her chestnut brown eyes wide. She was laughing. "OOOOOHHHH~~~~!!! How PRETTY~~~!!!"

The rest of them blinked their eyes open. Yutaka's glasses were foggy as he surveyed the many intricate looking long cards that floated about his head, a huge sweatdrop on his head. Hisoka looked as if he swallowed a whole light blue klieg light. Wakaba had a pair of Faeries floating above her, whizzing about her with their wings looking as if they were living pyrotechnics. Hajime had a huge bead necklace that was floating above him, his eyes little beads (think Anna Kyouyama's bead necklace). Seiichiro had a chibi-looking gray sprite that looked a little bit like a Moogle. Mibu had this strange glowing scabbard floating above him, tasseled and sealed with many o-fuda and intricate-looking silver chains. Kazutaka had several black spirit orbs floating about him. As for Asato...

"Hey, where did all those disco shards go TOOMMMMPPPHHHHH~~~~"

A red and a white blur suddenly came at him from nowhere, glomping him and knocking him over, much to the surprise of both Yutaka and Hisoka. Yutaka's glasses became even more foggy. "T...THAT'S your...-SHIKIGAMI-~~~?!"

"Wha~~~" Asato blinked his eyes open, and his hair stood on end. "GAAAHHH~~~!!!"

Chibi Suzaku was giving Chibi Kouchin a death glare as she hugged Asato, her eyes devilish little slits. "Unhand him, you HARLOT~~~!!! Master Asato only needs MY protection and that includes protection from your 'magical' HANDS~~~!!!"

".." Chibi Kouchin gave her a death glare back, frowning. "Eat my foot, you overgrown CHICKEN~~~!!! Master Asato is MINE~~~!!!"

"Not so fast, you wannabe POP PRINCESS FREAK~~~!!!"

"My ass and yours you FOWL FIEND~~~!!!"

"PERVERT~~~!!!"

"JACKASS~~~!!!"

"Uh...ladies, LADIES~~~!!!" SD Yutaka was waving his arms in the air frantically. "Stop ARGUING~~~!!!" 

"It won't do. They've been at it even since Master Asato was born, and they haven't let up ever since," Chibi Touda remarked. Chibi Rikugou was nodding, holding Chibi Chibi Kijin and Chibi Chibi Tenkou in his arms, Chibi Chibi Kijin sucking at a pacifier while Chibi Chibi Tenkou was waving her Chibi Chibi Chibi Bloudeuedd (my Rheingeld RPG chara-mech! ^o^) around, gurgling for all its worth.

Chibi Genbu was trying to look at them through his overgrown eyebrows and beard. "I thought I heard the chicken squawk somewhere...where has she gone to...?"

Chibi Suzaku hurled a huge _tanuki_ statue at him from nowhere, to which poor Chibi Genbu was thrown off. "You are NOT qualified to call ME a chicken you old MAN~~~!!!" 

Chibi Touda sighed, a small cloud coming out of his mouth. "You're nowhere near a chicken Suzaku. You're an undercooked turkey."

Chibi Suzaku had a very burning aura flare about her as she waved her arms over at Chibi Touda. "And I AM NOT AN UNDERCOOKED TURKEY~~~!!!"

Chibi Touda turned around, a black aura hanging about his head. "Whatever."

"**OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH~~~~**" Chibi Suzaku growled, several gargantuan twitches popping about her head. 

"~~~" SD Hisoka blinked. "Are these children YOURS, Asato?"

"..." SD Asato turned chibi puppy.

"..." SD Seiichiro's glasses turned foggy. "Why have they all turned CHIBI?!"

Chibi Souryuu meanwhile was fighting with one of Kazutaka's black spirit orbs, Chibi Byakko sleeping a few paces away from them, his tail curled up about him, like the chibi neko he was. SD Kazutaka was twitching. SD Wakaba had her hands to her mouth, while her 2 Faeries blinked.

"Uh...Professor Silverbough..." came Elene's shaky voice.

"???" Grein blinked. "What is it, Miss Falcrest?"

Wobbly-eyed and tears pouring down her cheeks, SD Elene slowly pointed upward. Grein looked up, along with the rest of Elene's classmates.

And discovered a huge flying spaceship that was covering the entire moon from where they stood.

"**GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~~~!!!**" SD Yutaka and SD Hisoka yelled, grabbing each other, their eyes very wide; SD Wakaba had her hands pressed to her face; SD Hajime's outline had gone all out squiggly; SD Mibu turned white as sheet; and SD Kazutaka merely blinked. 

SD Seiichiro was also wide-eyed. "What on EARTH is that?!" 

"..." A huge sweatdrop appeared on SD Grein's head. "I guess those -Eidolons- overdid it...they had been cooped up for God knows how long. I have to bring them back here, lest the entire Hogwarts Castle staff start shooting it down with Banishing Charms..."

"-E...Eidolons-...?" SD Hisoka blinked.

"There are only 2 known Fayres of the aetherian world, the Tsuzuki and Falcrest clans, given power over -Shikigami- and -Eidolons-." SD Grein nodded. "Well, I guess I should bring them back, where they belong...to their mistress, that is." 

He swipes his staff again and the huge spaceship disappeared with a pop and appeared right beside SD Elene, along with 15 other Chibi -Eidolons-. 

SD Yutaka poked the now tiny spaceship, which floated like a cute tiny toy dirigible. He blinked. "Actually, they look kind of cute..."

"..." SD Hisoka had a very disgruntled look on his face. "They weren't SUPPOSED to be cute, Yutaka, THEY'RE supposed to look intimidating."

"Oh."

"..." Grein nodded over at his students, smiling angelically. "Well. Now that you've been introduced to each of your aetheria...would you mind taking your staves out, please...?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: ** THIS IS MY LONGEST CHAPPIE~~~!!! Poor Asato. What happened to his awesome-looking -Shikigami- cast and HOW did they get afflicted with the dratted chibi curse?! Oh well. HAIL, MIGHTY CHIBIS~~~!!! ^o^ ^o^ ^o^ 


End file.
